


You gave me your sweater.

by mayfixlds, okwillthewise



Series: He's got you mesmerised [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: (kinda), (seriously its minor), (sorry), 1987, 1988, Angst, BAMF Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Bisexual Mike Wheeler, Boys In Love, Coming Out, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay Will Byers, Hopper Lives, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Karen is a bit questionable but she gets a talking to, M/M, Mike Wheeler Loves Will Byers, Past Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Period-Typical Homophobia, Romance, Siblings Will Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper, Will Byers Has Powers, Will Byers Loves Mike Wheeler, post stranger things 3, sequel time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 57,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27983730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayfixlds/pseuds/mayfixlds, https://archiveofourown.org/users/okwillthewise/pseuds/okwillthewise
Summary: "If she ruined it I don’t know what I’d do. I couldn't have that, I can’t have that because I am so in love with you, Will Byers-”Or, two boys navigating their way through life and love.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Minor Mike/El mentions, They're flashbacks, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Series: He's got you mesmerised [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2049387
Comments: 52
Kudos: 107





	1. In your hand, the birth of a new day

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! We were so blown away by the love 'It's just polyester' was given, that we knew we couldn't stop writing about these dumb boys anytime soon, so HERE'S A SEQUEL! Though this could ~ technically ~ be read alone, we would recommend hopping over to part one first, as it WILL add a lot more context. We hope you all enjoy :)
> 
> **Update: Our story is now being written as a full sequel! We're excited, we hope you are too. If you've been here since we first posted this, we hope you'll stick with us for the plot. Thank you so much for reading :)**

**Valentine's Day, 1987. Hawkins, Indiana.**

If Mike had been asked this time last year how he'd be spending Valentine's day of 1987, he most likely would've said in Benton with El. Now, following the events of New Year's Eve 1986, he could safely say that the reality of the situation was nothing like how he could've imagined. 

Instead, here he was, in the kitchen with his mom and little sister, wearing a floral apron, attempting to make heart-shaped cookies and missing his boyfriend.  
  
Mike, if he were being honest, had planned to spend his Saturday moping until Will was able to call him, but Holly had woken him up ridiculously early with the great idea of baking cookies. She’d been talking about Valentine's Day non stop since she'd proudly arrived home from school yesterday brandishing many, _many_ homemade cards with various valentines related designs on them ( _“I really like the one that says this” she’d proclaimed pointing at a card that had ‘You Won My Heart’ with a completed naughts and crosses board on the front_ ). 

_What seven year old needs a Valentine?_

“Mike, I understand how frustrating it must be for you, especially as Jane broke up with you just before the day” _T_ _wo months before but sure mom_ “But you’re 16. You’ve got the rest of your life for Valentine’s Days” His mom had said as Holly passed him a wooden spoon, indicating for him to mix the mixture in the bowl in front of him, as he does so the doorbell rings. They're not expecting anyone, so they shrug it off as a door to door salesman and ignore it.

“I’m not _frustrated_. I just don’t want to be here”

“Well, do you have somewhere _better_ to be?”

_With Will._

_I want to be with Will._

“Apparently not” his words are laced with sarcasm “I guess I’m stuck here”

“ _Michael,_ you’ll upset your sister. She’s been wanting to do this-”

“Since _yesterday._ I don’t think this has been something she’s been planning exactly. She’ll forget we even did it next week”

The doorbell rings for a second time, followed by a few knocks, and Mike takes this as his moment, telling his mom and sister _“We should probably see who that is - you stay with Holly so she doesn’t burn herself and I’ll get it”_ and feels relieved when they _finally_ let him escape. He rushes to the door, hoping whoever is on the other side is there to rescue him. He can see a blurry but familiar yellow hat through the frosted glass and he swings open the door.

“Heya buddy, looking sharp,” Dustin greets, pointing at the apron his mom had made him wear to avoid getting cookie mixture on his sweater. 

“Dustin, what are you _doing_ here? It’s _early_ ”

“I’ve come to cheer you up-”

“Why would I need cheering up? Why would I need cheering up _this_ early”

“Ok, for starters, it’s _11am_. Not early Michael” Mike frowns, “And second, I know how much you wanted to spend the day with-”

“Keep it _down”_ he shushes _“_ My mom is in the kitchen with Holly-”

“But, it looks like you’ll just have to settle for me huh?”

And that’s how Mike found himself in the basement with Dustin, playing _Gremlins_ on his _Atari_ with a few of Holly’s heart-shaped cookies. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate Dustin visiting, of course not- it had saved him from further baking with his mom and sister- though Dustin had volunteered himself to _lend a helping hand_ before Mike had swiftly made up an excuse that they simply had too much homework and didn’t have the time.

_“Mike you never mentioned you had homework before”_

_“I forgot. Just swept up for all the Valentines Festivities” His mom gave him a pointed look before shoo-ing him away from the kitchen._

It’s quiet in the basement for a little while, the only sounds being Dustin’s occasional outbursts about the difficulty spike and how the game was a ‘ _C_ __h_ eap Space Invaders rip off’ _ It’s when he gets _GAME OVER_ for the 5th time, that Mike finally speaks. 

“Why are you here again?”

“Because we all knew you’d be like this”

“ _We_ being…”

“Max, Lucas and I”

“Great.” He sighs “Look, thanks for coming but i’m _fine._ I’m babysitting Holly later as well so plenty more cookies to make”

“But _now_ you’re spending time with me, who also wants to spend time with you and frankly, you’re going to have to get over yourself, stop being all _Mike_ and suck it up”

_Well doesn’t that sound all the more appealing now_ he thinks. He rolls his eyes

“Way to kick a guy when he’s down”  
  
“Just try not to think about not getting to see him today - you'll get to next month. For a whole _week_. Valentine’s Day is just another day, really” Dustin tries to reassure him "No matter what _Hallmark_ tries to tell us"

“I know. I just-” he sighs “I really miss him”

Dustin grins, giving him a look that Mike was starting to notice his friends shared whenever he mentioned Will. 

“Ok, what is that?”

“What’s what?”

“That. That _face._ It’s annoying. Will’s my _boyfriend”_ He lowers his voice, looking up at the basement door to make sure it was shut, “I know he’s my boyfriend, you all know he’s my boyfriend. You don’t have to all keep doing _that”_

“But it’s _cute”_

“ _Cute?_ ” 

“How you are with Will. You’re like a whole other person. You’re different than when you were with El”

Mike rolls his eyes

“It’s been two months, Dustin” 

Dustin smiles, grabbing another one of Holly's cookies and taking a bite.

“Exactly. If this is how you are after two months, expect a hell of a lot more of us doing _that”_

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t.”

“Well we’d appreciate it if you just admit that it _is_ different and you _looooove_ him” he teases, gently nudging him

“It was an _emotional_ moment”

“Yeah that resulted in you confessing how much you like him on a swing, giving him your sweater and then you two making eyes at each other the _whole of New Years”_

“He was already wearing the sweater” Mike mumbles, “I just forgot to take it back.”

“ _Conveniently_ forgot to take it back, you mean”

Mike pushes him, though there’s no malice and a smile is evident on his face. 

“Have you told him yet?” Dustin asks, more serious this time

“Told him what? That I want my sweater back? Because he _does_ look good in it-”

“Oh shut up” Dustin nudges him “I _meant_ , have you told him you love him”

Mike thinks back to all the moments over the past month and a bit that he had _almost_ let it slip to Will. There had been plenty of phone calls, there had been the weekend that they'd spent together in Hawkins, but nothing had ever felt quite _right._ This was still all so new, _so fragile_ , and even though he'd never been surer of anything in his life, he didn't want to ruin it by diving in too fast.

  
“No” Mike reluctantly shakes his head “I don’t want to scare him off-”

Dustin gives him a look that Mike can only understand as _don't be stupid._

“It’s _Will_. He’s just as gone on you as you are on him”

“I just-it’s only been two months. I don’t want to seem as though I’m coming on too strong. But I do. Love him. I have for a while I think. And today sucks because the only thing I really want to do is be with him and I hate that I can’t”

“I could cover for you, if you wanted to go?”

Mike shakes his head “I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Hopper has an appointment out of state. Mrs Byers didn’t want to leave El and Will alone, especially since Jonathan is who knows where, doing who knows what with Nancy right now, which to be honest I'm trying not to think about. They're just so- _ugh_ ”

Dustin barks out a laugh

“You’re a hypocrite you know.”

" _Excuse me?”_

“You’re a _hypocrite._ You talk about Jonathan and Nancy but when you and Will are in the same room you can’t take your eyes off of him” Dustin retorts, rolling his eyes

“That’s not _true._ In case you haven’t noticed, we don’t exactly have many opportunities to even be together.”

“Emphasis on the _when you’re in the same room”_

“Well, even then it’s a _little_ different, Dustin”

“Not really.”

“What happened to us being _cute_?”

“You are" Dustin agrees "But you're also a hypocrite"

“You’re just jealous” Mike scoffs at him, swiping the last cookie

“Don’t flatter yourself, Mike. You’re not exactly my type” he sighs “I can’t believe Suzie broke up with me. She really was hotter than-”

“Phoebe Cates” Mike rolls his eyes “I know” he pauses again, shrugging “She’s alright, I guess. She’s no Wi-”  
  
“Dude, shut up” Dustin promptly picks up a cushion from next to him on the couch, swinging it at Mike.  
  
“Hey, you’re the one who decided to come keep me company. You have to deal with me talking about Will”

“I’m regretting my decision already” Dustin retorts, but he smiles

“Thanks though -” Mike adds, smiling back “For coming over, I mean. Sorry I haven’t been the best company on Valentines''

“You’ve been the most fabulous date, Michael” 

Mike laughs, pushing Dustin as he does so.

“Know what would make it even better? Beating you at _Gremlins”_

“You’re on” 

* * *

The phone rings at exactly 7:30pm that evening, and Mike practically sprints to answer it. His parents are on a date and with Nancy out of the picture, it fell on Mike to babysit Holly. She’d fallen asleep about half an hour ago, and Mike wanted to keep it that way- though after the amount of cookies he’d allowed his sister to consume, he wasn’t sure how.

_We’ll deal with the fallout tomorrow. Hopefully mom is in too good a mood after her date night with dad for the first time in months._

If Mike was honest, he never wanted to play _Uno_ again, after way too many games this evening, both with Dustin and Holly. He’d hoped the game would stop when Dustin had left but evidently, Holly enjoyed it a bit more than Mike anticipated. It wasn’t that he minded looking after his sister, not really, it was more than that this _really_ wasn’t how he wanted to be spending his Valentine’s Day. He gets to the phone on the fourth ring, a little out of breath.

“Hi”  
  
 _“Hi”_

  
  
Mike can almost hear the smile in Will’s voice

  
  
“How was Hopper’s appointment?” Mike asks  
  
“Good. Owens’ thinks he can be discharged next time” Will tells him “Mom is happy. I don’t think she’s fully been able to relax whilst he’s still been having these appointments” 

“I bet El is happy, too”  
  
“Yeah” Will agrees. “She hasn’t left him alone since we got back in the car. Made him sit in the back with her. He didn’t argue too much, I think he wants to make sure she’s real as much as she’s checking he is”  
  
Mike smiles at the thought  
  
“I’m glad it was a good day” 

“Yeah, I think it’s the good news we deserve you know? After everything.” 

Mike hums in response before Will speaks again

“What did _you_ do today?”

“Nothing really, made cookies, ate cookies, realised I hate the game _Uno._ Dustin came over though”

“Dustin?”

“Seems that everyone collectively decided that i’d be acting, in Dustin’s words, all _Mike_ today”

“Kind of sounds like you were though”

“Not the point Byers.” a beat “I miss you, though”  
  
“I miss you, too”  
  
“Our first Valentine’s day and I didn’t get to spend it with you. It sucks”  
  
“It _really_ sucks. It’s my first Valentine’s day _ever_ , and I hate that I didn’t get to see you”

Mike hadn’t considered that. He’d had two Valentine’s with El, and he’d remembered the significance of that first one. It had been amazing getting to spend the day together - even with Hopper grumbling from the living room the whole time - and he found himself unnecessarily angry at the world for splitting himself and Will up. If Will had still been in Hawkins, they would’ve had the whole day together, and he wouldn’t have spent it hauled up in his basement with Dustin and playing _Uno_ with his baby sister.

He knows that next year they can make sure they’re together and he knows that realistically it _is_ just a day, but when he lets himself think about it, even though he’d already had those two Valentine’s with El, this one with Will felt _different_ somehow. He _had_ loved El, and he’d enjoyed the time they’d spent together but nothing had ever felt like this. 

“It’s not too late to catch the Greyhound. I’ll meet you at the station”  
  
Will laughs 

“I wish but I probably should spend some time with dad” He pauses “Unless...you want to come here and spend some quality time with Hopper as well?”

“You know, somehow I think I'd like to avoid another Hopper interrogation. Don’t think me arriving in Benton because I’m now dating his _son_ would be the best way to acclimatise him back into the real world”

Will laughs “Probably not. I doubt it would be easy for you to try to explain to your mom why you needed to be with _me_ on Valentine’s day, either”

Mike rolls his eyes, forgetting for a moment that Will can’t see him.

“Oh no, I’m sure she’d be fine with my desperate need to be with my _best friend_ today” 

“ _Desperate need_ ? Sounds like you _were_ being _all_ _Mike_ today”

"Maybe" he sighs "I'm sure mom was wondering what that was all about"

There's a pause, he hears Will take a breath

"Mike-"  
  
"I'm sorry, I know I said I'd tell her"

“No, no it’s ok" Will reassures "Really. I don’t mind that you haven’t"

“I will do it, promise. Just- not now”

“Mike” Will’s tone is soft “There’s no rush. You tell her when you’re ready, not a minute before” 

“ _Soon_ ok? I’m just not sure- about her, not you. _That_ part I’m sure of. I’ve never been surer of anything”

“ _Smooth_ ”

“Hey, you’re the one that chose to be with me. You get me as your boyfriend and the corny lines come with it”

“Didn’t realise that was part of the package deal”

“Deal with it Byers”

A beat.

“Me too though. I’ve never been surer of anything”

“ _Smooth”_

“Shut up” Will laughs

Mike can feel there’s something unsaid, something that they both want to say _there would be nothing cornier then saying it on Valentine’s Day after all_.

But they don’t. Neither of them feel that they mind.

“You come here next month”

“I do”

“For a week”

“Yeah, a whole week”

“I’ve been thinking of things we can do. Things that we can say are _ours._ There’s a few places and-”

“Don’t tell me yet. Let’s figure it out together”

“Ok” Will agrees “Together”

Just the thought makes Mike feel _warm._ All the possibilities of what's to come running around his head. There's a moment of silence before Will speaks again and he knows he was thinking of all of it, too.

“I just- I can’t wait- to do all this with you. Not even just spring break but, the summers, the lights in Du Quoin, New Year's again. Sorry I know it sounds like I’m getting ahead of myself talking about something that’s almost a whole year away but-”

“Well, I'm rooting for us Will. I mean, I’d like to think we’ll be an _us_ for a very long time and I’m looking forward to it all too. I’m looking forward to _everything_ with you”

There’s a soft laugh through the receiver, “I’m rooting for us too Mike”

“Happy Valentine’s day, Will”  
  
“Happy Valentine’s day, Mike” 

And Mike finds he’s still smiling by the time his parents arrive home.


	2. I found a reason to keep singin' and the reason dear is you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are pretty good together, aren’t we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you for the feedback on chapter one, we loved seeing some familiar faces as well as some new ones! We hope you enjoy this chapter just as much.  
> You can find the playlist Will makes for Mike [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/15hvV7sn9hCFpnusL8u6pI)

**February 14th 1987. Benton, Illinois.**

_“_ _Happy Valentine’s day, Will”_ _  
__  
__“Happy Valentine’s day, Mike”_

It’s a little way past 8pm when Will finally hangs up the phone. 

_Just a few more weeks,_ he thinks to himself, _Just a few more weeks and then you’ll see him._

He walks into the living room to find his mom sitting on the couch, cradling a coffee in her hands, a smile present on her face

“Mom?” She looks up at him, giving him a small wave, still holding onto the mug, “Where’s-?”

“He’s just grabbing a few spare blankets, he’ll be back in a second, join me?”

He nods, sitting next to her on the couch

“So, how is _Mike_?” she asks, a playful tone to her voice.

“Oh, he’s good. Seems like he had a fun day with Dustin, Holly and _Uno._ ” he replies, mimicking the tone Mike had used on the phone when talking about the game. His mom laughs

“I’ll make sure we have the game in time for Spring Break”

“ _Please”_ He chuckles, giving her a smile, though it feels somewhat bittersweet. His mom clearly notices, putting down her coffee and beckoning him closer. He scoots over on the couch, resting his head on her shoulder as she uses her left hand to gently play with his hair.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get to spend the day with him today”

“No, it’s ok.” he sighs. It was frustrating, as he’d told Mike it was his _first_ after all. But he understood. Today was important for them all- they could finally become a proper family. “We’ve got plenty of time for all of that. It’s nice to see you happy, Mom. I’m just glad this is all working out for you- for all of us”

“Thank you sweetie. I’m glad too” she leans across herself, affectionately pinching at his cheek

“Mom _”_ he laughs, pulling away a little before nestling himself back in place, “ _stop”_

There is a peaceful silence for a little while, his mom going back to slowly stroking his hair. He presses himself closer into her, taking comfort in the moment. It’s rare they get to have moments like this, now. Eventually she moves her hand out of his hair, reaching round his shoulders and settling her arm there. 

“We’re going to watch a movie” she says, breaking the silence “If you want to join us?”

“No it’s ok, have some time just you two. I’ll hang out with El for a bit. Enjoy your _movie date_ with dad”

“With _dad_ huh?”

He sits up, turning to face his mom, a slight frown on his face

“I’ve noticed you’ve been calling Hop ‘ _dad’_ a lot recently”

Will shrugs “I’ve been doing it since New Year”

“No, it’s different. At first it seemed like it was more for El. Now it seems more for _you”_

_She’s not wrong,_ he thinks. It was something he’d noticed himself. Though on occasion he’d slip between the two; _Hop_ and _Dad-_ Calling him dad was becoming easy, like he was never anything _but_ his dad. He had settled into their lives so perfectly, that it felt like he had always been there. Will hadn’t quite realised how much that was the case until the first time he’d seen him again since they had found out he was alive. 

“Is that ok? I know you told me I don’t have to call him anything I don’t feel comfortable with but it feels right after everything. I want to call him dad.”

His mom takes his hands in her own giving them a reassuring squeeze “Of _course_ you can. Of course it’s ok”

“Good,” He smiles, looking away from his mom for a moment 

_A family. A real family. Me, El and Jonathan. Mom and Dad._

“Does Hop mind if I call him Dad? Has he said anything?”  
“Not at bit” she tells him reassuringly “He asked me about it, but only to make sure it’s what _you_ wanted” she lowers her voice, “In actual fact, I think he really likes that you call him it”

“Really?”

She hums in response, a smug smile on her face

“Well, he _is_ my dad, as far as I’m concerned” Will tells her “He’s been more my dad these last few years than Lonnie ever was”

“So he’s ‘ _Lonnie’_ now, huh?”

“Is that, ok?” he asks, frowning  
His mom ruffles his hair again  
“Absolutely fine. You don’t owe him _anything”_ _  
_“I used to want to make things ok between us. I used to try to look forward to seeing him, but after I went missing, knowing he didn’t even _call_ _back_ after you told him I was alive, I don’t want to waste my time with him. Hopper was the one who helped find me, he was the one at all my hospital appointments, he was the one who was there for me. For you. For all of us. That’s what dads do. Hopper _is_ my dad”

“Wow, kid, way to pull on the heartstrings”  
Will and his mom look up to see his dad standing in the doorway, holding the blankets. Will flushes a little, but his dad gives him a smile. Depositing the blankets on the couch, he says  
“Come here, kid”  
Will stands, confused but before he can say anything else, his dad pulls him into a tight hug  
“Dad-I can’t breathe” he protests lightly, but he melts into the hold  
“You know you’re my kid, right? All those things you just said, I think the same. You’ve been my kid the second I found you in that God awful place. That’s never going to change”  
Will squeezes back harder “Thank you for everything” he says, voice muffled by his dad’s jumper. He thinks he hears though, as his dad’s grip tightens.  
“Right” he says after a while, pulling away from Will finally “Are you joining us for the movie?”  
“No” he tells him, smiling “I already told mom- I’ll leave you to have some time together. I’ll go and annoy El instead - what are brothers for?”  
His parents laugh at his comment, his mom standing briefly to give him a quick kiss on his head “Goodnight, honey” she says  
“Goodnight Mom” he replies “Night Dad” he adds, his dad now setting up the blankets on the couch  
“Night kid” he says in reply, holding out a blanket to his mom as she sits back down “Give El a hug from me”  
With one last ‘goodnight’ he makes his way to the living room door, and heads down the hallway to find his sister.

* * *

“That was cute,” El says as he walks into her room. Her door was open slightly so he gave a soft knock before letting himself in. She’s led on her bed, flipping through her Trigonometry textbook and taking notes. 

“What was cute?” he asks as he sits down next to her. He points to the math problem she had scribbled on the page _“Gross”_

“You and dad” she replies “And I know, I’ve been stuck on this one for ages”

“Well he _is_ my dad” Will tells her “Sorry, you’ve got to share now but it serves you right for spying on me”  
El laughs, pushing him slightly “I suppose sharing isn’t _so_ bad. I got two brothers _and_ mom out of it, so I’m not exactly upset about the whole thing”  
He smiles at her  
“Do you need some help? With Trig, I mean?”  
“ _Please”_ she answers “I feel like throwing my textbook out of the window. The only thing that’s stopping me is that I really don’t want another detention with Mrs. Rodriguez. Sitting through an extra hour with her is hell”

“We can do it together,” he reassures “But can we put on some music, first? It helps me focus”

“Sure” his sister agrees, but as he stands to put something on, she catches his arm  
“Wanna practice?” she grins, nodding toward her stereo

“What do we tell mom and dad if it goes wrong?”

“Power outage? They’ve fell for it before”

“Ok” he agrees “But you’re telling them if it does”  
“It was me last time-”  
“El-”  
“ _Fine”_ she rolls her eyes “You ready?”  
He holds out his hand and she takes it, interlocking their fingers. They don’t always have to be touching, but during their _practicing_ they’ve found out that the effects are stronger if they are. _At least for now_ , Will thinks, as he can already feel them growing and evolving. He tries not to think too much about what that means, and tries to enjoy the fact that he doesn’t have to get out of bed to turn the light off anymore. 

El closes her eyes and he follows, channeling their connection. It’s not long until he finds her in the void, and she squeezes his hand at the recognition. Once together in the void, they shift their attention to the stereo. This used to be something El could’ve done with the slightest movement, but now with her powers being so temperamental, it’s only with Will that they’re _somewhat_ stable. One more squeeze and he hears the dial turn, and slowly Corey Hart starts to sound out through the speakers. 

“It worked!” El says, letting go of his hand. They wait a moment to see if the music stops now the connection is broken, but it continues playing and they high five, letting out a _“victory!”_ which causes them both to laugh. 

They eventually (after possibly playing with the electrics a little more, though he’d never admit it to their parents) turn back to El’s math problem. She gets the hang of it after a little while, and it’s as Will throws down his pencil after completing the page, stretching that he hears

_Just a little more time is all we’re asking for..._

_Appropriate_ , he thinks, _after the day I’ve had._ He always feels like he’s asking for _more time_ with Mike.

Thinking about his boyfriend, along with Corey singing about how he will _never surrender_ , causes a memory to resurface

_“I know you don’t normally give someone a gift if you’re the one leaving soon but listen to it sometime. Maybe it’ll change your rotten music taste”_

* * *

**September, 1985. Hawkins, Indiana.**

Autumn was finally making an appearance in Hawkins- the heat of the Summer now becoming more of a distant memory. It was breezy as Will made his way to the Wheeler’s household, leaves falling around him as he cycled. It was a route he’d made hundreds of times, but he found that this time felt different. He took in everything around him, _The Palace Arcade (“Come on, you’re up on Dig Dug, let’s take that top score back, huh?”), Melvalds (“Well I don’t know who’s been raising you but I’m going to get you some new crayons”), The Hospital (“We made a new friend. She stopped it. She saved us. But she’s gone now” ''Her name’s Eleven” “Like the number?”)_ before finally turning onto the Maple Street cul de-sac, reaching Mike’s house. He ditches his bike on the front lawn, making his way toward the door.  
Before he can knock however, it opens, revealing Mike, who is leaning (rather awkwardly, Will thinks) against the doorframe. He smiles at Will

“Hi” he says, suspiciously enthusiastic  
“Hi?” Will retorts. Mike doesn’t move “Are you going to let me in?”

“Oh, sorry” Mike moves out of the way, letting Will step into the home, “It’s really great to see you” He signals to Will, to follow him down to the basement

“Yeah” Will replies, making his way down the stairs behind Mike. He frowns at the silence of the basement, and he looks around as he reaches the bottom step. Mike immediately makes his own way to the TV, kneeling down beside it.

“Are the others coming?” Will asks, gesturing to the empty room.

“Later” Mike answers quickly, fiddling with his video collection, “I just thought we could hang out for a bit. Just us. Before they get here”

 _He feels guilty_ is Will’s first thought, and he hates it. But could he blame himself for thinking it? Sure in the mall they’d _hugged it out-_ after all, there were bigger things to deal with than words spoken out of anger. But, since that day there had been _something_ lingering, between all of them really and with no Mindflayer amalgamation to act as a terrifying distraction slowly it was bubbling more and more to the surface. 

It didn’t help that Will could feel that Mike and Lucas seemed to be treading on eggshells around him, making _too much_ of an effort to include him in _everything_ . So Will found it of no coincidence that as soon as he started to say ‘no’ when asked to hang out _again and again and again_ , Mike had concocted an elaborate plan to get them alone, without the rest of The Party, presumably to figure out what was going on.

_To stop him feeling guilty._

He sighs and makes a move to sit on the couch, opposite where Mike was currently knelt on the floor.

“How’s El?” Mike asks after a short silence, still arranging the videos.

“You could just ask her yourself, nothing stopped you before”

Mike flinches

“Sorry that was a low blow. She’s doing as well as she can. All things considered”

He sees Mike nod, and Will cringes. 

“So,” He begins, an attempt to alleviate the tension now evident in the room, “Are we gonna watch a movie or are you just going to arrange them until everyone gets here?”

Mike deflates before turning to Will, remaining seated on the floor

“What’s going on Will?” _and there it is_ “We’ve been asking you to hang out and you say no. We’ve gone to visit you and you’ve found an excuse as to why it can’t be for long-”

“Well with El-”

“Oh don’t even try it Will. El’s been with us more than you have since- since it all _happened_ ”

“What do you want me to say? If this is your way of trying to make summer up to me then, i’m not going to lie Mike, this is a really weird way of going about it”

“So there’s something to make up then, huh?” 

Will curses under his breath, sinking into the couch. He avoids eye contact with Mike but can feel him observing him and he wishes he would _stop-_ feeling his face begin to flush with the attention. He rubs at his eyes in an attempt to mask his reaction-peaking through his fingers to catch Mike throwing his head back, slightly shaking his head.

“Are we going to talk about it?” Mike asks and Will stalls.

_No. No we’re not because I might say more than I want to. Especially to you_

“What is there to talk about apart from minor guilt that I called El stupid and now she’s practically my sister?”

“ _Will”_

“ _Mike”_ He replies, mimicking Mike’s tone.

He hears him sigh before he makes his way over to the couch and sits next to him, though Will notes at more of a distance than usual.

“I-” Mike tries, “Look I didn’t mean it how- I didn’t mean it to sound-”

“Like I don’t _like_ girls? You can just say it Mike, everyone else does.”

“Will-”

“Just _say it_ Mike.”

Mike hesitates before replying “Like you don’t _like_ girls. I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t mean it to sound bad”

_Well it did. It really did._

Will hoped that the rest of The Party were due to arrive at any time from this point on, Mike hadn’t exactly set a timescale for how long they were _hanging out_ after all. All he currently knows is that he needs to get out, and whether that be out of the conversation or out of the room he wasn’t sure, but at this point Will found he was very close to admitting something he hadn’t truly admitted to himself, hadn’t allowed himself to embrace.

“Look _please_ can we stop talking about it. I _don’t_ want to talk about it” He finally looks at Mike, who’s frowning, but a look of concern plastered across his face. 

“Will come on, don’t shut me out”

“I’m not shutting you out Mike, I just _don’t_ want to talk about it. We could have talked about this before and we haven’t. Why now? I don’t get why now”

“Because I want to fix this- I _can’t_ leave this”

“Then you shouldn’t have said what you said then. You shouldn’t have said that I don’t like girls. You shouldn’t have used that against me. You’re _just_ like them”

Mike looks alert. _No. No no._

“Used that against you?”

“No- I don’t mean that- I just- I just mean that-”

And _there’s_ the reason he didn’t want to talk about it. 

He starts to panic and there’s Mike, looking at him with a curious look- Will feels like he can see right through him. _He’s wrong_. That’s what he wants to tell him. He can tell him that but Will knows it would be a lie. 

“ _No._ It’s not what you’re thinking. I know what they say Mike- you know what they say but i’m _not. I promise._ ” 

“ _Hey_ ”

And it stops, and Mike has grabbed onto both his wrists and is looking at him directly in the eyes and Will hates that his stomach leaps “You’re ok, alright? Just breathe for a second ok? I’ve got you”

And he has and Will tries to remain steady. Mike is guiding him through it, just like he always had, just like he’s promised they’d be _crazy together_. 

“You’re ok Will, and I _know-”_

_He knows?_

Will considers for a second what would happen if he did voice what had been lingering since the year prior. He didn’t have to tell him _everything_ of course. But what if he said something? The way Mike was right now, the way he was comforting, telling him he was _okay._ Would Mike be ok with this? Mike _could_ be ok with this.

“I know you’re not _that_ ”

_Oh_.

_Oh ok._

“Really though, I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t mean it as if you were- you know. I’m sorry if it came across that way. It was just- It was the heat of the moment and- look I shouldn’t have been like that. I was a total _asshole._ The whole day. I’m just _sorry”_ Mike looks down, letting go of Will’s wrists, wrapping his arms around himself. “I just _need_ to fix this Will. _Please_ let me _fix this”_

Will finds he doesn’t really know what to say frankly because, for multiple reasons, Mike wasn’t wrong. Yes, that whole day had _sucked_ . That was a given. Will was more concerned because as much as he would have liked to believe Mike’s claim that he ‘ _didn’t mean it like that’_ there _was_ a part of him that couldn’t shake the fact that maybe he knew _exactly_ what he was doing when he’d said them. Despite his reassurances, he knew that Mike would have had to have understood what other people said about him; what his dad used to say (what he probably still said, to some people) and what Troy meant when he made his _fairy_ jokes. Neither had been particularly subtle. Mike had been present enough in both situations multiple times. 

He looks over to the boy next to him, Will noting that he’s never looked smaller 

_Well, he wanted to know what’s going on. May as well go with it._

“It’s not- it’s not just about that day” he sighs

“I hated it for a while. El coming back. I wanted to hate her. So bad. But how could I? I felt so alone. I just wanted _one day_ but you guys were just so wrapped up in being together the whole summer and it was like nothing else even mattered. Even when Dustin came back- but then he didn’t even want to play so, I dunno. Maybe I was being stupid.

“I guess, I just hated the fact that you were slipping away. All of you were slipping away and you were all getting girlfriends and- I dunno. None of you would need me anymore”

“Will of course I’d need you” _please don’t say it like that_ “Whether you remember it or not, I wasn’t lying when I told you, when you were…” he trails off before taking a breath, scooting closer to Will on the couch and placing his hand over Will’s own “Becoming your friend, it was the best thing I’ve ever done. I’m sorry about how I made you feel. I _won’t_ do it again”

“How are you and El?” 

There’s more context to this than he lets on, and he hopes that Mike won’t catch on to that. 

“I dunno. I don’t really know what we are”

“Do you want there to be more again?”

“I thought you were tired of talking about girls and relationships?”

Mike raises an eyebrow before looking down at their hands- Mike’s own still placed over the top of Will’s. He murmurs a _sorry_ before pulling his hand away, though if Mike’s fingers gently linger on top of his hand as he pulls away, nudging Will’s hand with his knuckles once separated, Will doesn’t think about it.

“I don’t know. I think so? I mean it’s _El,_ you know?” 

_No. I really don’t_

“Sure”

And that’s the last they speak about the subject. 

There’s a silence again, though it’s _slightly_ more comfortable now. Mike is still closer to him on the couch which Will considers an improvement from earlier at least. Despite his earlier resistance to the talk, he can't help but think that, despite the obvious ploy to get them to talk about _their issues,_ it was nice to air what he’d been thinking since that day- _he guessed_ . They were, or at least will be, _fine._

But still, sitting here, neither of them saying anything, it was a bit _weird._

“I’m sorry that I woke you up dressed as a wizard”

Mike lets out a breathy laugh and Will feels relieved

“It was a cool campaign, I meant that- though weirdly similar to what went down with the mall and everything a few days later”

“Yeah, I’m trying not to think of the implications of that, considering I could still feel _Him_ at the time”

“And can you still feel it? _Him_ I mean”

“No.”

It’s not exactly a lie. He hadn’t. But there was something strange, a feeling he couldn’t quite pinpoint though, he could put it down to the fact that maybe El’s powers were beginning to manifest again, even just a little, and he was the unfortunate target of that. 

“Good. I hope you never do again. You don’t deserve that. You didn’t deserve anything that happened to you”

“I’ll pass that over to _Him_ on our next run in. I think he’ll take that feedback very seriously.”

Mike gently nudges him and Will nudges back

“Have you got the date yet?” Mike asks solemnly.

“October 5th. We’ll be missing a bit of school but it’s the only date the owners of the new house can do”

“So we’ve still got time?”

“We’ve still got time”

_A pause._

“Want me to put on some music to tone down the _Mike and Will emotions tour?”_

“Yes please”

Mike laughs and makes his way to his tape player. He filters through his selection and Will can’t help but chuckle at the faces he pulls as he tries to choose what to play. He finally settled on something, opening the tape player and putting it in. The music begins playing and Will frowns

“ _Corey Hart?_ Really Mike?”

“What’s wrong with Corey Hart?”

“It’s not _real_ music”

“Sorry _Jonathan_ ”

Will rolls his eyes “You’re just jealous that no one taught you what _good_ music is”

“Guess you’ll have to teach me”

_Huh?_

“Teach me Byers.”

“You’re going to need a bit longer than a month if you keep listening to _Corey Hart”_

_“J_ _ust a little more time is all we're asking for…”_ Mike responds in a sing song tone

“Stop.” He jokingly pushes him

“What, you don’t like it?” he asks, and he’s _laughing_ but there is also a fleeting look that appears on his face that Will can’t quite decipher. 

“Well, your singing is clearly just as good your music taste” 

“But you _liked_ it”

“So when are the others getting here?” Will quickly asks as Mike rolls his eyes, a smirk evident on his face

_This_.

This felt like Mike. _His_ Mike. If Will was being honest, this felt more like the Mike he knew before the day Will had rolled a seven. Before the demogorgon _got him_ . _This_ is that boy on the swings.

 _Of course_ he liked it. 

“Later. I meant it when I wanted it to be just us for a bit. Is that ok?”

Will smiles “That’s ok” 

* * *

**October, 1985. Hawkins, Indiana.** ****

It’s raining the day before they leave and despite his mom’s insistence that it _isn’t safe to ride in the rain,_ Will found himself cycling to the Wheeler’s house that afternoon. He’d asked El if she wanted to come along, but she’d decided to get started on helping his mom with the packing. There was still something between them, Will noticing more _strange_ feelings when they looked at one another- and after careful consideration found himself relieved then he could say for sure he could separate those feelings with _those feelings_ (yet another conversation he was very glad he didn’t have to have with Mike Wheeler) 

On reflection, biking across town wasn’t the smartest idea, especially once he arrived at the Wheelers, greeted with a frowning Karen Wheeler who’d insisted that he put on one of Ted’s sweaters before sending him off to the basement where Mike was laying on the couch.

“Why are you dressed like my dad?” Mike frowns, seeing Will walk down the stairs

“It’s raining. Your mom made me wear it”

“She’s so weird, why didn’t she just give you one of mine?”

He shrugs “I dunno. Maybe it was just the first one she could find”

Mike murmurs _fair enough_ before sitting up, making space for Will next to him on the couch.

“I can’t stay for long. You know, with tomorrow”

“We ran out of time huh?”

“Looks like it” he pauses “Speaking of, I have something for you”  
Will reaches into the pocket on his pants, fingers curling around the mixtape he’d made for Mike.

* * *

It had been something he’d been working on for a while, since their talk back in early September, but only recently been able to complete. His mom had questioned him about it a few times, mainly about why he was cooped up within his and Jonathan’s room (they’d had to share after El had moved in) for hours and days on end. But Will had just told her he _had to get it done_ and her questions stopped.

“Looking busy there buddy” Jonathan had said one afternoon, knocking on the door.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m working on something”

“Seems like it, the mess that’s all over your desk”

Jonathan looks down, noticing the tape deck and a list of scribbled song titles.

“Who’s the lucky person?”

_Lucky_ **_person?_ **

“Mike” Will mutters in response

Jonathan gives him a look

“No. It’s _not-_ I swear, he just wanted me to introduce him to some better music. Music that isn’t _Corey Hart_ and-”

“Hey, _hey_ , you’re ok” Jonathan puts a comforting hand on his shoulder, looking over him to see the track listing. “Good call with _The Clash_ and _Bowie”_

“You think?”

“Uh huh” He comes round to the side of Will, running a finger down Will’s notebook where the words _potential tracks_ were written in capitals at the top. He pauses on two tracks by _The Smiths_ “What’s your theme, Will?”

“I dunno. Just, songs I like that I think he should listen to”

“Every mixtape has got to have a theme”

“Well, maybe this one doesn't” he murmurs, hoping his brother will stop the questioning.

Of _course_ it had a theme. It had a rather distinct theme if Will thought about the lyrics enough. It just so happened to be that theme very much aligned with songs he thought Mike would like. 

_Coincidentally._

He can feel Jonathan looking at him, and Will still avoids eye contact, sitting wide eyed, lightly pulling at the palm of his left hand with his right

“Hey, look at me a second” Jonathan tries softly, and Will hears him sigh when he doesn’t turn to face him “I’m just asking because both could work. Think about it, ok?” he says, tapping the page where the songs were

“Ok”

They’re quiet for a while as Will records a song to the cassette. It’s when he presses pause that he speaks again

“Jonathan?” He pauses before continuing, “Do you think he’ll like it?” and if his brother notices the genuine concern in his voice, he doesn’t comment.

“If he doesn’t then there’s really no hope for him when it comes to music”

* * *

But now, here he was, his hand in his pocket, a grasp on the tape and despite feeling completely prepared to give him the cassette on the way here, Will now felt _sick._

 _It’s just a mixtape_ he thought _you’ve made one for your friends before. This isn’t any different._

_But it is isn’t it?_

_No. Stop._

“Here.” He pulls out the tape quickly, holding it out to Mike before he can talk himself out of it

“Will-”

“I know you don’t normally give someone a gift if you’re the one leaving soon but listen to it sometime. Maybe it’ll change your rotten music taste” he says, thrusting the tape at Mike.

He finally takes the mixtape, turning it over in his hands, “ _Will The Wise Says: Listen to Better Music?”_

“Can safely say there’s _no_ Corey Hart on there”

Mike chuckles, still looking down at the tape

“Should we put it on now-”

“ _No!”_ Will snaps “I just mean, not yet. It’s for you. You listen to it on your own, you don’t want me here. Would ruin the music experience”

“Right…” Mike answer slowly, looking from the mixtape to Will

“I- I put a lot into it. Track 4 is great, and Track 9. To be honest though, I think you’ll like Track 2 and 3 and-”

“Will _”_ Mike interrupts, taking hold of his hands, that Will hadn’t noticed he was moving as he spoke _“Thank you_ ” he says, squeezing Will’s left hand, before pulling his own away.

“You’re welcome” Will replies softly, before giving Mike a smile “Just don’t tell the rest of The Party, I didn’t make one for everybody”  
Mike laughs.  
  
 _They’re going to be fine._

* * *

**February 1987, Benton Illinois.**

“Will, are you ok?” El’s voice brings him out of his thoughts  
“What? Yeah, just thinking” he reassures her “This song, it makes me think of Mike”  
“ _Gross”_ she sticks her tongue out at him  
“Very mature, El” he says “Mostly, I was thinking about how bad he is at singing it”  
“Did he subject you to that, too?” she rolls her eyes  
“Yeah” he laughs “I liked it, though”  
El smiles at him. It’s a knowing smile, and he finds himself trying to dodge her gaze.

“You are truly made for each other- if you can put up with _that_ ”

He gives his sister a look “ _Sure._ Anyway, let’s get to work on the next trig problem and stop talking about my love life” 

And it’s as El is reciting what the hypotenuse is for the next question that he thinks  
  
 _We are pretty good together, aren’t we?_

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow us both on tumblr [@mayfixlds](https://mayfixlds.tumblr.com/) [@okwillthewise](https://okwillthewise.tumblr.com/)


	3. I played for it baby, and gave you such a wonderful start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He was a kid”
> 
> “Well now he's a kid with his tongue down our son’s throat so forgive me if I don’t love him”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! We hope you enjoy chapter 3 (and the return of a familiar face). We got distracted writing chapters 11 and 12 for this fic, but we have returned with some cute family drama!

**Spring Break, 1987. Benton, Illinois.**

Ever since Hopper’s penultimate hospital appointment with Owens, things had been pretty quiet - minus the unusually large quantity of lightbulbs she’d had to replace - in the Byers-Hopper household. So, when Joyce wakes up on the second day of Spring Break, to an empty bed, despite the smell of coffee drifting down the hallway, it immediately triggers a concern. The left side of the bed is cold, as if no one had slept in it the night before and she panics for a moment that everything that had happened the last few months had been one very long dream.

_Hopper wasn’t alive, wasn’t okay, wasn’t right here with her and their little makeshift family._

She tries to reason, the way the therapist she saw had taught her, and reassure herself that the likelihood was that Hop had a rare early start and was in the kitchen making breakfast. As much as she tried to let the technique ground her, after a few moments she knows the only thing that’s going to ease her anxiety is seeing him. Making sure that he’s real. 

She swings her legs over the side of the bed, sliding her feet into the grey slippers El had bought her for Christmas. She shuffles into the hallway, making her way toward the kitchen but just before she reaches the doorway she overhears Hop speak  
  
“How about a day on the town with your old man?” he asks “We could get some ice cream? Maybe catch a movie?” 

Joyce smiles  
  


“I’d like that, Dad” their daughter replies  
  


“Wheeler won’t mind you ditchin’ him for the day?”  
  


“No” El sounds a little confused “Why would he? He’ll be with Will”  
  


“Perfect” Hop says “Why don’t you go get ready? I’ll finish my coffee and join you in the living room in a bit?”  
  


El must’ve nodded because she suddenly appears in the hallway, and with a quick _‘Good morning, Mom’_ she heads to her bedroom  
  


Joyce makes her way out into the kitchen to see Hop sat at the table.  
  


“Good morning” she says, giving him a quick peck before heading for the coffee pot.  
  


“Hey, you”  
  


“You’re up early” she notes as she sits down at the table “I missed you this morning. Bed was cold”  
  


“I’ll make sure to make it nice and warm later” he smirks  
  


She hits him in the chest before taking a sip of coffee  
  


“Couldn’t sleep” he admits after a while “I’ve been pent up since last night”  
  


They’d gotten back from Chicago late last night after Hopper’s final appointment with Owens. He’d finally been discharged, and told that once he was ready he would be able to go back to his life before he’d been taken to Russia. The family had decided they’d stay in Benton, as the only place they’d want to move to would be back to Hawkins, and that would open a series of questions they wouldn’t be able to answer. Owens had provided Hop with a bunch of documents, new records, a new ID, fake references; everything he’d need to start over. 

Hopper had been silent on the car ride home, and she knew that he needed all the time possible to process everything that had happened the last year and a half. The last few months had been so full of appointments and now he was discharged, it seemed as though everything had hit him all at once.  
  


“Are you ok?” she frowns, reaching over to take his hand. He lets her slot their fingers together “You know you don’t have to keep all of this to yourself, right? We’re a family now. I’m here no matter what, I love you _no matter what”_

“I know” he squeezes her hand “Dunno how I got this damn lucky but I sure as hell ain’t gonna take it for granted”  
  


 _It’s me that’s the lucky one,_ she thinks  
  


Hopper stands from his chair, hand still linked with Joyce’s and pulls her up with him. It takes her off guard and she wobbles slightly, letting him steady her. Once she’s on her feet, he hooks his hand under her chin and leans down to kiss her softly. She arches onto her tiptoes, hooking her hands around his neck, falling into it. 

Joyce loses track of how long they stay there for- Hop had always had a way of distracting her, but she welcomes it taking comfort in him. After he’d started to feel better and they’d gotten their relationship on track, he’d been making her feel like she was seventeen again. 

She feels him smile into the kiss before he pulls away slightly

“What?” she laughs “Do I have something on my face?”

“Marry me”  
  


“ _What?!”_

“Marry me” he repeats

“All that caffeine and nicotine has finally gotten to your head” she deflects

“I’m serious. Marry me”

“You’re serious?”

“Never been more sure of anything” he smiles at her again “Marry me. I got you a ring and everything but seeing as we’re a good few hours from Enzo’s, I couldn’t take you out on a date to ask”

“Benton has restaurants, Hop”

“I feel like right here in our kitchen fits the bill. Marry me”

“I can’t believe we got engaged whilst I was wearing pyjamas that are six years old”

“You look as beautiful as always” he pauses “Wait. Engaged? Is that you saying yes?”

She shrugs

“Might as well make it official”

And the look he gives her is the happiest she’s seen him in a long time. 

* * *

Hopper doesn’t mention anything to El when they leave the house later that morning. He and Joyce had decided that they’d have a family dinner ( _“and Wheeler?”_ he’d grumbled to her _“Hop, he’s practically family. Mike’s included.”)_ tonight and break the news to everyone at the same time. Despite the fact he’s supposed to be keeping it under wraps, he can’t stop goddamn _smiling._ If El notices his mood is a little more joyous compared to usual, she doesn’t comment on it. 

They head to a little diner called _Star-Line_ in the center of Benton for a late breakfast. It’s a hole in the wall type of place and it has approximately three customers - himself and El included - but El seems to rate it, so they grab a booth and open up the menus given to them by the waitress - _Bailey,_ apparently

“They do nice waffles here” El says casually, after a short while, still looking at the menu

“Oh yeah? Well you can get them if you want, my treat”

She shakes her head, looking up at him “Not while you’re here. They don’t come _close_ to the _Triple Decker Eggo Extravaganza.”_ She gives a small smile, that he finds he can’t help but return. “Best to get the chocolate cake, Mike liked that. Or a milkshake instead. They say they’re the best”

_Pretty sure that’s just something they say to draw in customers kid, but sure._

“How is Wheeler?” He asks once they’ve placed their order  
  
“Ok I think? I only saw him for a little bit last night” she shrugs  
  
“Are you two alright?” he frowns slightly, noting her attitude toward him had changed slightly  
  
“Yeah. Everything is all good now”  
  
He’s about to ask when everything wasn’t good but before he can speak, Bailey brings over their food and he has to give it to Wheeler - the chocolate cake is pretty good.

He’d pretty much forgotten about their conversation as they leave the diner. El had talked his ear off about school, and her friends and her extra curriculars. They get halfway down the street, El still talking - this time about how the mint chocolate milkshake truly was the best in Benton, when Hop hears a _“El?”_ from behind them.

They both turn to see a tall, brown haired teenager waving at El from next to the diner. He’s stood with a girl with similar coloured hair, who is frowning at them.

“Boy from your class?” He mutters to El as the boy starts walking to meet them, but he gets no answer as El walks to meet him halfway.

“Nick” she smiles. The boy ( _Nick, apparently)_ smiles back before pulling her into a hug. She reciprocates eagerly, standing on her tiptoes to make up for the height difference.

They’re both grinning widely when they pull away

“It’s so good to see you” Nick says to her

“You too. Me and Will have been coming to the diner and we haven’t seen you”

“Yeah” he says, slightly awkward now, Hopper notices “This has been the first time since the breakup”  
  


_Breakup?_

The way he says it seems so casual that Hopper realises that they must be pretty close for El to know the personal parts of his life and the diners that he frequents.

“But still,” He continues, “Guess I had to come back at some point right? I’m sure they’ve started to miss one of their _best_ customers- unless _you’ve_ replaced me now” He lightly nudges her shoulder and she grins.

“It is good to see you, I mean that. Will’s baking isn’t as good now” El replies, a teasing tone to her voice and he laughs, rolling his eyes.

“Really though, how is everyone? Bad baking aside of course” Nick asks, eyes flicking quickly to Hopper “Will’s told me little bits, but there’s only so much you can talk in art class before Miss Arye shuts it down”

“We’re good. Mom is good. Jonathan is good. Will and Mike are good. And, this is _my dad”_

El gestures to him, Hop raising his hand giving the boy a small wave. 

He notices the way that El introduces him is done in such a way that Nick must know a little bit more than the average person on the street. He feels a deep confusion as to why this boy - who before today he’d never even _heard of,_ let alone _met_ \- had been given a small insight into their lives.

“Will wasn’t kidding with the _shared trauma_ thing, huh?” he mutters, before looking at Hopper properly, holding out his hand “Nice to meet you, I’m Nick” 

“Jim” Hop says, shaking his hand firmly, noting that Nick shook with the same pressure

“So you’re _all_ good, huh?” he asks, turning back to El

“You can just ask him, you know?” she replies “He misses you”  
  
“It’s just been hard, El. But I miss him, too. And you”  
  
El reaches out to squeeze Nick’s hand.  
  
“I know. But you can still talk to _us. Both_ of us”  
  
He squeezes her hand back before dropping it.  
  
“Thank you, El. I might take you up on that. We better go get our table now, though” Nick says “I’ve left my sister waiting too long. Say hi to your mom for me” He adds, smiling “And Will too, of course”

“Bye Nick” El says in reply giving him one more smile, before both teenagers turned back the way they were going and started to walk off.

Hopper follows El, walking in a steady stride next to her. 

_"_ Are you gonna tell me who that was, kid?” he asks _because he seemed to know my entire family_

“Nick” she states, looking at him as if he’s an idiot

“Well yeah, I got that” he retorts “But _who is Nick?”_ _  
_

“Oh” she replies “He’s Will’s ex-boyfriend”

_He’s Will’s ex what, now?_

_“Excuse me?”_ he stops in the middle of the sidewalk

“It was a _stressful_ Christmas”

“Mhm” he nods “A stressful Christmas?”

“A _very_ stressful Christmas. But it all worked out in the end” she takes his hand, pulling him along again “Let’s go see that movie now. I want popcorn”

“El, you _just_ had a milkshake. And half of my cake. You can't have any room for popcorn”

She gives him _the_ look that only she can give

“There's always room for popcorn”

He shakes his head but smiles, trailing after his daughter.

* * *

  
They arrive home around 6pm after the movie had finished although Hopper couldn’t have told you what it was they’d seen. El had chosen it, which didn’t bode well for his attention span in the first place, but now he was completely fixated on the fact that his son was _gay._ And had apparently had a _boyfriend._ A boyfriend who had seemed like he knew so much about their lives, about their _shared trauma,_ but yet no one had even thought to mention him. No one had told him such an important part of who his son is.  
It’s not that he minded. Of course he didn’t. He’d met enough bigots in his time to know that an attitude like that was filled with hate and ignorance and he wanted Will to know that he didn’t feel the same way, but if Will hadn’t mentioned it to him yet, he didn’t want to be the one to bring it up. Maybe, he thought, Will didn’t feel entirely comfortable with him knowing yet, and as ridiculous as Hopper thought that was - he was never going to do anything but accept his son for who he was - he did understand the reluctance that Will could be facing.

  
El bursts through the door before him, kicking off her shoes and hanging up her coat. She calls out for Joyce, who shouts back that she’s in the kitchen and El skips off to find her. 

Hopper follows and reaches the kitchen just in time to see Joyce kiss El on the top of her head

“Did you enjoy the movie? What did you see?” 

“ _Some Kind of Wonderful_. It was good. Dustin would’ve liked this one”

“Did the guy end up with his best friend then?” Joyce smiles good-naturedly and El laughs. He doesn’t get the reference and acknowledges that it’s another piece of information about his family that he didn’t understand. He finds that he’s frustrated with not just the big things, but all the little things that he’d missed; that had been taken away from him in _that place_. He tries to focus on his surroundings, the way Owens had taught him, drawing him back into the present.

  
“Sure did” El tells her “Well, I’m going to go wash up before dinner” she continues, giving her parents a quick goodbye and heading off down the hallway. Before Hopper can greet Joyce properly, he hears a small knock against one of the bedroom doors and a _go away El_ , from Will shortly after.  
 _  
__What are they doing in there that they don’t want El to interrupt?_ He thinks _Probably Atari._ He’d told Joyce letting Will have a TV in his room was a bad idea. _Teenagers and their video games._

“Did you enjoy the romance?” Joyce asks, smirking slightly as she stirs a pot of bolognaise on the stove 

“Didn’t really pay much attention” he replies, making his way over to her and giving her a quick kiss “Had a lot on my mind”

"I’ve been distracted, too. All day” but she smiles as she says it “I’ve let the boys know we’re having a special family dinner”"

"What for?”

She stares at him, frowning “The engagement?” she asks slowly, stopping her stirring “Do you still want-”

He’s an idiot

“Of course. Yes. Absolutely” he takes the hand that’s not holding the spoon “I’m sorry- I’ve just had a lot on my mind”

“Want to talk about it?” she offers as she turns back to the stove

“About Will-”

But before he can finish, the oven timer rings out, making them both jump

“Jesus!” he lets out

“Sorry” Joyce says sheepishly “Dinner is served. Can we talk about this later? And speaking of Will, can you go and tell the kids that the food is ready?” 

He nods in agreement, still a little dazed from both the day and the timer, before heading toward the hall. He knocks on Jonathan’s door first, then El’s, but once he reaches his youngest son’s door, he receives no reply after the knock. He tries again with the same response, and assuming that they couldn’t hear over the sound of the _Atari,_ he reaches for the handle and swiftly opens the door.

It was safe to say that he wasn’t _quite_ expecting to see what he saw. His first thought is that what El had said was right - Will _did_ like boys, but before he can properly process that, thinking of El brings him to the fact that not only was his son _attached_ to another boy, said boy was his daughter’s _boyfriend_.

He sees _red._

“What” he spits out “the _hell_ is going on here?”

The boys break apart suddenly, making them unsteady and Will falls from his position in Mike’s lap. He straightens himself up, before looking back at Hopper.

“We were kissing?” Will responds nonchalantly, whilst _Wheeler_ seemed to be struggling, looking everywhere but at Hopper himself.

_No shit, kid._

“How _dare_ you. Your mother did you not raise you to be this way” 

“ _Hey!_ ” 

_S_ _o he finally speaks huh?_

“Don’t talk to him like that you piece of shit!” 

_I liked it better when you weren’t speaking, Wheeler._

He turns to Mike, glaring “Oh, I’m the piece of _shit_? Ha! Don’t make me laugh” looking back at Will, he asks “Did Wheeler talk you into this?”

“What? No, of course not!” Will replies and his tone sounds so certain, so sure, that it knocks Hopper a little “This hasn’t come out of nowhere, if anything _Mike_ was the one who needed to catch up. Just ask Mom, she’s known about me since October” he then gestures between the two of them “and this since-”

“ _Joyce_ knows about this?!”

“Why wouldn’t she? Do you think we’d be here if she didn’t?!”

It looked like he was going to have to speed up the chat he and Joyce would be having later.

“Because it’s _wrong,_ Will” he rants, exasperated “It’s absolutely disgusting. How could you even think this was okay? How could you do this to your sister?!”

“Wait. _What?”_ Both boys say in unison

_Wait. What?_

_What was going on here?_

He notices that they share a look, faces full of confusion. He frowns at them and before he can say anything else, Will blurts 

“El and Mike broke up. In December. They broke up early December. Mike and I got together at New Year”

He lets the words register in his head, and suddenly _everything_ makes sense. Why he hadn’t heard El on the phone to Mike much, why Mike had been perfectly content to spend the day without El, why Will had taken weekend trips to Hawkins, the _stressful_ Christmas that El had mentioned and the look on Mike’s face when he’d been told _‘keep the door open three inches’_ when he’d gone in to say hello to El, and the - what Hop now knows was _smug_ \- look Mike had given him when he’d walked into Will’s straight after. He realises pretty quickly that it wasn’t that Will didn’t want to tell him, it was that Will thought he _knew._

He rubs his hand over his eyes and sighs _“Oh Jesus._ That’s pretty fast, kid” sighing again, he asks “Is El okay?”

Now he knew, he couldn’t help but wonder how his daughter was feeling about it all. She seemed fine, and her and Will were closer than ever, but he can’t imagine that watching her ex-boyfriend and her brother together was particularly easy.

It’s Wheeler that replies this time “She’s good. We all are, now. She realised my feelings before I did. Trust me when I say we’ve all had _way_ too many long conversations about this whole situation. You can ask everyone if you don’t believe me” 

“Mike -” He starts, with _another_ sigh

“I love him, okay?” Mike interrupts. There is a certainty to his tone that Hopper had never heard come out of his mouth before “And I don’t care what you have to say about it, because it’s not going to work. This is _it_ this time, Hopper. I’m not messing around. I _really_ love him”

Hopper decides that this conversation has become far too heavy for his liking and he wants to sit down. He makes his way over to Will’s desk, pulling out the chair. He fluffs up the pillow ( _rainbow print_ , he notes to himself) before setting it back down, and sitting himself on top of it. He feels awkward sat in the chair which is clearly too small for him. He thinks for a moment, ruminating over what he has just been told. 

He turns back to Will “Are you happy, son?”

Will nods, a smile forming across his face

“With _him_?” his eyes glancing at Mike, who frowned in return

“Very” Will confirms “I love him, too”

Mike looks down, and there is a soft look on his face, something again that feels unfamiliar to _Wheeler_

“Right” He says, resigned “I understand, but this is still my house-”

“ _Technically_ it’s Joyce’s”  
  


_Shut it, you smug son of a bitch_

“ _My_ house. So, there will be some ground rules. I know you’re both 16, but you will follow them and maybe, just maybe, I will allow you to continue to date my son.”

Mike gives a slight snicker in recognition. Hopper rolls his eyes. 

“Okay,” he states, standing up from the desk chair “I was coming up here to tell you dinner was ready. You get five minutes to, um, finish up and then I want you out of this room and at that table, capeesh?” and with that, he heads toward the door, out of the bedroom and back toward the kitchen, calling out one last “Five minutes!” behind him.

He heads back to the kitchen to find Joyce plating up their dinner

“Did you get the kids?” She asks as she sprinkles some cheese on what he assumes is her plate 

“Why didn’t you tell me our son was dating Wheeler?” He asks, ignoring her question. He watches as her eyebrows knit together and she turns to face him 

“What?”

“Will. I found out today from El that he had an ex-boyfriend - Nick. We ran into him. And before I could even get my head around _that_ , I walk into his bedroom to find him on top of Mike. Goddamn. Wheeler” 

“Oh, how is Nick?”

“Are we just going to ignore what I’ve just seen?”

“Do you have a problem with this?” she frowns “Because if you do-”  
  
“ _Of course_ I don’t have a problem with Will. I just don’t understand why no one told me”

“Look Hop,” she turns back to him, placing a reassuring hand on his arm “We genuinely thought you knew. After all the phone calls Will makes pretty much every night” 

“Can’t believe we’re paying a ridiculously large phone bill because of Wheeler”  
  
“He’s not _that_ bad”

“I’m telling you Joyce, the kid is out to get me. First my daughter, now my son”

“He’s a good kid. You forget I’ve known him since he was _five._ He’s never been out to get anyone”  
  
“He’s a smug-”  
  
“He’s our son’s _boyfriend_ and he treats him well. Will is happy, and Mike is who he wants to be with. Look, I was concerned at first, especially because of El, but she came to me before Mike had so much as mentioned he had feelings for Will and _she_ was the one who told me she wanted to break up. She knew she didn’t love him anymore, and he didn’t love her either and I think they’re better for it- they’re best friends now. As for Mike and Will, they just make _sense._ I think they’re it for each other, Hop. Like it or not, that kid is in love with our boy”

_Well they did say as much,_ he thinks. But he still can’t shake his worries

“They’re in _high school,_ Joyce”

“They’re old enough to know how they feel”  
  
Sometimes he couldn’t believe the confidence Joyce had in situations. Her attitude toward so much of her life - of their life - was one he wished he could emulate. Her drive to find Will, the magnets, the _heart-to-heart._ She had so much fight in her, so much _conviction_ , it was hard not to get swept up in it. It was one of the things he loved about her the most.

“I still need to bleach my eyes” he grumbles after a moment

Joyce rolls her eyes, which he pointedly ignores.

“He seemed fine, by the way. Nick. He said to say hello to everyone and he even _shook my hand._ The least Wheeler has ever done was hit me”  
  
“He's was a _kid_ ”  
  
“Well now he's a kid with his tongue down our son’s throat so forgive me if I don’t love him”  
  
“Okay. Yes. I will definitely talk to Will. But don’t give him a hard time over it, Hop. I mean it”

He nods, but his grumbling continues as he helps set the table, and especially when Mike and Will conveniently forget his five minute rule.

* * *

  
  


If Will could choose one word and one word alone to describe dinner that evening, there would be only one he could possibly pick: _awkward_. 

Certainly not helped by the fact that he and Mike hadn’t made his dad’s _five more minutes_ rule and arrived at the dinner table looking a little _disheveled_ \- The glare that Mike had received when they sat down speaking for itself and was certainly one that they wouldn’t be forgetting any time soon.

Will couldn’t have predicted that this is how his day would be going. He knew that he hadn’t officially come out to his dad, but his sexuality and his relationship with Mike was such a normal thing in the house now, that he really had just assumed that he knew. He thought that his mom or El would’ve said something by now, but the look on his dad’s face when he caught them wasn’t an easy one to digest. Even though his dad had ultimately seemed ok, and his disapproval was more with what he was doing (and evidently who it was _with)_ , rather than the fact that it was a boy he was doing it with, Will did feel worried that he wouldn’t be accepted by him. He’d spent so long used to having his family and friends know, and being so cool about it, he wasn’t sure what he would do if his dad wasn’t. 

“So” His mom starts “how was everyone’s day?”

_Well, I had my first real kiss turned make out with my boyfriend and my dad walked in, but, apart from that._

“We just _hung out_ in Will’s room” Mike replies, looking down at his plate, face flushing. Will feels his is doing the same

“Hung out? Is that what they’re calling it these days?” He hears his dad grumble, twisting spaghetti onto his fork in a _slightly too_ _aggressive_ manner.

“ _Hop_ ” he hears his mom warn. He looks at his dad to see him roll his eyes

“Dad and I saw Nick in town,” El adds, before turning to look at Will “He said to say hello. I said your cakes weren’t as good now”

“Wow, thanks for that El.” He frowns at his sister and she smirks in return “You _should_ have told him to sit with us at lunch for once. He might have listened to you over me” 

“He seemed like a _good_ kid. Downright pleasant to talk to”

_“Hop!”_

“What?” His dad asks, holding up his hands in defence “I’m just saying”

Mike grumbles something next to him, mimicking his dad’s earlier action of _slightly too aggressively_ twisting the spaghetti onto his fork and Will can’t help but think that maybe they’re too similar for their own good.

“What about you Jonathan?” his mom swiftly tries to change the subject  
  
“I made a good start looking through college brochures for next year” Jonathan tells her, looking up from his plate

“Are you still looking at NYU?” their dad asks, receiving a nod in response

It felt strange thinking about Jonathan going away to college. He’d put it off for a few years, after everything that had gone on, but now he was in a position to think about applying for next year and it caused a heavy feeling in Will’s chest. El looks over to him, a curious look on her face before he shakes his head simply mouthing that he was ok.

_I know he can’t stay here forever. I know things have to change but I can’t imagine a life without Jonathan in it._

He knows he’ll be home for holidays, and they can visit, but knowing he wouldn’t be there to talk to whenever he wants makes him feel a specific type of sadness he hadn’t before.

“They’d be damned fools not to take you” their dad continues “And of course you’ll have me to show you the ropes in NYC. I can show you some of my favourite spots in Brooklyn”  
  
“I’d like that” Jonathan smiles

The conversation dies down a little after that, the only sounds really heard in the room was that of their cutlery scraping across their plates. It’s only when his mom puts down her knife and fork, that she speaks again

“Well, your dad and I have some news” His mom says after a little while “Some good news” she finishes, smiling at them all as she takes his dad's hand.

Will wonders for a moment what their news could be. His dad had just been discharged from the hospital, but they knew about that last night so it wouldn’t be that, and they’d all decided as a family that they wouldn’t be moving again. 

“Mom” Jonathan speaks up “You’re not-you’re not pregnant, are you?”

Well that hadn’t even crossed Will’s mind, and he looks to his mom frantically 

“Are you?!” He asks her

“No. No” she reassures quickly “I am definitely not pregnant. Three kids is plenty” she laughs, his dad joining in with her.

_Well, that’s a relief._

“You don’t have to worry about that, son” their dad says to Jonathan “What your mom was trying to say is that I’ve asked her to marry me”

Oh.

_Oh_.

“And I said yes” their mom adds “In case that wasn’t clear”

There’s a beat before the table explodes with congratulations- them all taking a moment to process the news. Jonathan looks between their parents, smiling and telling their dad that he _“has to always promise to look after her”._ Will jumps up from his chair, with a choked _“Mom”_ , before heading over toward her and pulling her into a tight hug. El starts chattering about how romantic it is and how she’s never been to a wedding before and _please_ can she be a bridesmaid. Mike gives a smile and congratulations and Will thinks about all the times Mike had been there when Lonnie had been an asshole to them all, and how now, Mike seemed genuinely happy that was a thing of the past; that they’d formed this little family. 

But throughout all the commotion, the hugs and the fact that wedding planning had already begun ( _“I think we’d look great in blue” “El, you and mom can’t wear the same colour” “Well, wedding rules are stupid”)_ all Will can notice is that the smile on his mom’s face is one he hasn’t seen on her in a very _very_ long time. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow us both on tumblr [@mayfixlds](https://mayfixlds.tumblr.com/) [@okwillthewise](https://okwillthewise.tumblr.com/)


	4. When you open up your heart and the truth comes out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So yes then” she smirks “So who’s the lucky guy, or girl. I don’t judge” 
> 
> “A guy” he blurts quickly, then lowers his voice “Will. It’s Will”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the feedback on the last few chapters and we're so glad you seem to be enjoying it as much as we're enjoying writing it.
> 
> You may notice we've updated the A/N on chapter one- this story is now a full sequel of Polyester. We're really excited about the plot we have, it's going to be a _ride_ So we really hope you enjoy it from here on out- stick with us, we'll get there.
> 
> Anyway, here's Chapter 4, we hope you like it :)

**Spring Break 1987- Benton, Illinois**

_The dream was always the same, though where it happened often changed. Today, he was by the pumpkin fields back in Hawkins._

_There was no-one else around, there never was, but instead there was an intensely anxious feeling, like something was about to happen. He scans the field for the off chance that there may be someone around, and tries to call out only to find he can’t- no sound comes out._

> “...Will?”

_It’s not so much what he can see, but what he can feel and he feels cold. That roller coaster feeling he’d tried to explain to everyone evermore present._

_And once again, the world seems to flicker and he’s back there again._

_He finds himself falling to the floor, frozen. Almost like that feeling from that summer, but everywhere. He looks down at his hands to see black markings creeping up his arms_

_Spreading._

_And it feels like it’s suffocating him as he squints his eyes trying to break free before-_

> “Will!” 

Will sits up with a loud gasp, frantically checking his hands and arms, feeling at his face to make sure all was ok, that _he was ok_

_It was just a dream again._ He thinks _It’s always just a dream, that’s all it is._

“Will?”

He sees Mike leaning up at him from the camp bed, a hand on his arm, a concerned look on his face. Will looks around his room for a moment, regrounding himself before looking over to his side table, noting the time ( _4am. Again)_ and then his table lamp, the bulb thoroughly smashed- _I think that’s the 3rd bulb in the house this week._

“Are you ok?”

Will looks back to Mike, still slightly dazed “Sorry, did I wake you?”

“Kind of hard to sleep when you have lights flashing in your eyes” Mike lets out a breathy laugh. “Really though, are you ok? What happened?”

“It was just a nightmare”

“A nightmare that involves you bursting a lightbulb?”

_Well it seems to be the trend in recent days._

  
  


Will sighs, looking back to the lamp. He begins to get up to start to clear up the mess before Mike stops him, saying _‘Don’t worry, I’ve got it’_ and leaving the room to get the dustpan and brush. 

It’s quiet whilst he clears up the mess, not that there’s much to talk about at 4am, but Will can tell there’s something on Mike’s mind- certainly proven by the occasional glances he would give him as he sits in silence.

“Has this happened a lot?’ Mike finally speaks, as he tips the debris into the trash can under Will’s desk. 

“No.” Will answers a little too quickly. It’s not _exactly_ a lie. It hadn’t happened _a lot._ Just that it had been more frequent in the last few months. Mike, as Will expects is unconvinced, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. “Really Mike, it’s ok. _I’m ok_. Whenever I have a bad dream this just happens sometimes”

“Does El know this _happens sometimes_?” he asks, sitting next to Will on the bed.

“El doesn’t need to know _everything_ Mike” He responds, more of a snap to his tone than he intends. He squints, rubbing at his eyes for a moment “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so-”

“Hey, it’s fine”

“Really though, I’m ok. It’s just a nightmare and I _know_ it’s just a nightmare but,” he trails off, looking back at Mike, concern still evident on his face, “Look it doesn’t matter. I’m fine. I promise.” 

He rolls onto his side, curling him up, hugging at his pillow. If Will was being honest with himself, he was quite worried. At first the nightmares were simply _nightmares_ \- the content was the same, no less terrifying but that’s all they were. They never manifested into anything more, they weren’t as regular.

_And_ didn't result in having to explain to his mom why he needed another new bulb for his lamp.

_I don’t understand. Things have been fine. El and I have got it a lot more under control, she’s a lot more under control so why-_

“Will, you’re shaking”

“Can we just try and get some sleep? You’ve only got a couple of days here left and I really don’t want to be tired the whole time”

“Ok”

_Ok._

“Budge up then” There’s a shuffle of blankets as Will finds himself turning back, once again to face Mike.

_“What?”_

“I’m not just leaving you like that. Budge up” Mike ruffles the edge of the sheets, but Will doesn’t move. Mike pauses “Are you ok?”

_Am I?_   
  


“Yeah, I just- I haven’t shared a bed with anyone before” he finally mumbles

Mike frowns at him

“Will, we used to share all the time as kids”

“No, I know. I just haven’t shared with anyone that I’m _dating_ before”

“Oh. Well, me neither” he shrugs “We don’t _have_ to-I didn’t-”

Will lifts the comforter, moving over slightly

“Get in”

“Are you sure-?”

“Well, we used to do it all the time as kids”

Mike rolls his eyes at him but climbs in without saying anything else.

The say nothing for a little while, both _very carefully_ keeping a distance between the two of them

“I guess it is a bit different now, isn’t it?” Mike asks once he’s settled. Will can feel that Mike is tense next to him 

“Just a little” Will agrees, but he reaches for Mike’s hand, entangling their fingers “A good different, though” 

“Yeah. A good different”

And Will finds he sleeps easier for the rest of the night.

* * *

The nightmare isn’t mentioned again until Will is on his second coffee and fifth mouthful of cereal the next morning.

“How are you feeling?” Mike asks from next to him at the kitchen table. Will has noticed he’s barely touched his Corn Flakes. 

Will shrugs “Ok. The next day is always a bit weird but I feel alright”

“Are you sure? It seemed like a pretty bad one” Mike frowns at him

Will smiles at Mike, leaning over to squeeze his hand

“I’m sure. It helped having you next to me. That was the best night sleep I’ve gotten in a long time”

“Well, I am here for a few more days if it helps- if you wanted to, I mean. We _are_ sharing a room anyway, we might as well-”  
  


The offer hangs in the air as Will thinks over what Mike has said. He _had_ been a little unsure last night, but all of his worries were gone the second Mike had slipped under the comforter with him. Mike never pushed him, always wanting to know Will was sure, and even now the way he’d phrased his sentence allowed Will to say no without any question. But he’d never felt as safe as he did with Mike, so his answer was pretty clear.

He nods at his boyfriend, grinning “Sure. Although, if we do it _every_ night, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep alone again once you’ve gone home”  
  


“ _Excuse me?”_ _  
  
_

Their bubble _bursts_ and they look towards the entrance to the kitchen to see his dad, arms crossed, red faced, with his mom standing just behind, head in her hands and shaking her head.

“Morning, Dad?” Will greets, raising an eyebrow at his father.

His dad says nothing and doesn’t move from his position in the entryway. 

“Morning, honey” his mom greets instead, walking in front of his dad and smiling at Mike “Morning, Mike. Did you sleep well?”

Mike nods, giving no verbal response. Will can see his fingers tighten around the spoon.

His mom walks over to the coffee pot, and reaches up into the cupboard in search of a mug. She pulls out a blue spotted one and turns back to his dad, cupboard door still open

“Hop? Coffee?” she asks, gesturing to the mug 

“What?” his dad’s voice is gruff “Oh. Yeah. Coffee”

His mom nods, reaching for another mug, this time a red one, and starts to pour the coffee. An awkward silence settles over the room and Will notices Mike fidgeting.

“Is something wrong?” he asks finally, looking over at his dad who _still_ hasn’t moved from where he was standing.

Before anyone can reply, he hears the laughter of his brother and sister echoing from the hallway. It’s only a few seconds after that they both appear in the entryway behind their dad, and Jonathan is quick to pick up on the atmosphere of the room

“Why does everyone look so serious?” he asks “Who died?”

“Your brother and Wheeler had a _fun_ little sleepover last night” his dad finally speaks

Mike drops the spoon.

Wait. No.

_No._

“Hop-” his mom starts, sitting down at the table, both mugs in hand.

“Dad you’ve got this completely _wrong_ . I _didn’t - we_ didn’t -”

 _“Sure”_ his dad replies, glaring at Mike

“I had a nightmare” Will tells him firmly “Mike was _helping_ me”

“It’s true” Mike speaks for the first time since Will’s family had joined them “He really did have a nightmare-”

“Is _that_ what they’re calling it these days?” his dad mutters, rolling his eyes.

“ _Ok”_ his mom interjects “I think it might be a good idea if we have a little chat”

“Mom, we really don’t need-”

“I could eat a late breakfast” Jonathan says, trying to defuse some of the tension “Come on El” he adds, grasping her elbow and trying to steer her down the hallway

“But I’m hungry-”

“ _El”_

“ _Fine”_ but she makes no move to follow her brother. 

“ _Actually_ Honey, why don’t you and El catch up whilst Hop and I talk to Will” his mom says to Mike 

Will gives a “I want him to stay” at the same time Mike says “Mrs. Byers, we really didn’t-”

She smiles at them both

“I know you didn’t. And Will, it’s _okay_ , you’re not actually in trouble, don’t worry” she reassures them, ignoring his dad’s _“Speak for yourself”_ as she continues “But I just think it would be best if you were with El”

“Come on Mike” El chimes in “We can listen to Corey Hart whilst we talk”

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Will finds himself sitting on the couch in the living room with his mom next to him, both of them coffee in hand, watching his dad pace up and down. 

“Calm down, Hop” his mom says reassuringly “You’re overreacting”

“Am I?” his dad says bitterly

“Look, Dad, is it _me_ you have a problem with-”

“Honey” his mom puts her arm around his shoulder “It’s ok”

His dad stops his pacing, pinching the bridge of his nose 

“Will, I don’t have a problem with you. I _promise_ you I don’t have a problem with you.” 

“Then, I don’t understand what’s going on. I don’t understand what the _problem_ is. I don’t understand why you’re so angry. We told you, I just had a nightmare”

“What am I supposed to think, Will? After what I saw last night. I walk in on you both, like _that_ and then the way you were both talking this morning-”

“He was asking me if I was _ok”_

“Yeah I _bet_ he was _”_ he mutters “Am I really supposed to believe that?”

“ _Yes_. We weren’t doing anything. Yesterday was only our first kiss, you don’t have to worry about that yet”

“ _Jesus_ , kid”

“Why don’t you tell me exactly what happened, Will?” His mom adds softly

“I told you, I saw them-”

“I want to hear it from Will” she cuts him off, no room for argument in her tone

Will sighs, turning to face his mom slightly

“I had a nightmare and it woke Mike up. He could see I was a little shaken up so he offered to share with me to make me feel better, you know, the way he did as a kid when you and Lonnie would have a fight”

“What was the nightmare about? Are you ok now?” his mom frets 

_Absolutely fine, Mom_ he thinks _Just having recurring nightmares about a being from an interdimensional world that may or may not still be a part of me._

Of course he can’t tell her, not yet anyway. He doesn’t want her to worry. He doesn’t want anyone to worry, which is part of the reason he’s trying to keep El out of his head. He knows that she’ll tell their parents at the slightest hint of something being wrong

_Friends don’t lie_

Except when it’s about alternate dimensions.

“I’m fine” he reassures his mom “It _did_ help, having him close” 

She looks skeptical but drops the subject with a simple “Ok. You know where I am if you need me”

He feels guilty for lying but he knows that it’s only going to worry her, and she’s already had to deal with more worries than anyone should.

“Don’t forget what happened yesterday” his dad reminds, expression still furious 

“Hop” his mom warns, before turning back to Will

“Sweetie, I don’t mind you and Mike sharing a room-”

His dad scoffs as she says it. His mom ignores him.

“But if you and Mike are starting to _explore_ and take things-”

He cuts her off 

“Look, it really _was_ our first kiss. We just got carried away. That’s it, I swear. So can we _please_ stop talking about it now”

“Okay. I believe you” his mom reassures him, smiling softly 

“I’m not sure I do” his dad responds, frowning “You sure looked awfully cozy”

“Now Hop-” she says “I _do_ trust Will. I trust that they know what they’re doing, and _if_ they make the decision to take anything further-”

Will feels his face flush, but neither of his parents seem to notice and he’s grateful. 

“Mom, please stop” he mumbles, interrupting. He turns to his dad “Look, Dad, I know you didn’t know me and Mike when we were little kids, but we’ve always been _close_ . It’s just even closer now that we’re dating. It _is_ a new relationship, but it’s based on years of friendship. It _really was_ our first kiss, and we _really_ don’t need to be talking about this, so can I go now?” 

His mom nods in agreement, and continues her earlier point

“I trust them to be sensible. I’d be a hypocrite if I gave them restrictions I didn’t give Jonathan and Nancy. Making them keep secrets only ends up worse in the first place. I’d rather know they’re being safe in the house, than god knows where else. You should know better than anyone the places teenagers go, and what they do-you used to tell me way too many stories about Chrissy Carp-”

“Hey, hey, the kid doesn’t need to hear about that” He stops her at the same time Will pleads with them to stop talking. 

_Gross._ He really didn’t need a play by play of his dad’s high school hobbies 

His dad sighs after a small lull in the conversation, all parties thinking over his mom’s words 

“Look, son” he says “I just want you to be sure with any choices that you make” 

_What I am sure of is that this conversation has been pointless_

“So. I want to enforce a camp bed rule” his dad adds 

“What? No. I swear we’re _not-”_

“Yes I heard you. You’re my kid and I’m going to listen and I’m going to trust you. But I wouldn’t have allowed it if it were Mike and El, so I feel like it’s not fair to allow you and Mike different privileges”

He looks between his parents, eyes landing on his mom 

“Mom- _please._ Jonathan and Nancy didn’t have to use a camp bed. This has happened _one time_ and it’s because I had a _nightmare._ Why are you punishing me for that? _”_

“We’re not punishing you” She says, and Will feels his chest swell up with hope “ _But-_ ”

_Traitor_

“Your dad is right, and I do want to be fair to you all. Jonathan hadn’t ever actually asked me if Nancy could sleep over before he was an adult. There was a lot of sneaking involved. It doesn’t mean we don’t trust you, we’re just setting and discussing some healthy boundaries. You can still share a room whenever he stays over, but, camp bed from now on” 

Will groans into his coffee.

* * *

“He hates me” Mike starts, pacing around the room, avoiding looking at El, who was currently laying on her bed, magazine in hand

“He doesn’t hate you” She replies

“He wants me gone”

“If you’d have answered me when I knocked at the door after me and Hop got back in from the cinema, this wouldn’t have happened”

He glares at her and finally, she looks up from her magazine and sends him a grin.

Mike sighs before walking over to the bed, moving her legs out of the way with a quick _‘move over’_ and joining her, top and tailing.

“I just don’t understand why this has become a big _thing_.” Mike rubs at his eyes with his palms, “I didn’t do anything wrong, Will did nothing wrong. Hopper is once again, out to get me and ruin my relationship. He’s conspiring, I’m telling you”

El lets out a small laugh, rolling her eyes, before putting down her magazine. “So,” she begins, “What did happen at the _sleepover_?”

“Don’t say it like that, it sounds _weird._ Last night, he really did have a nightmare” 

El nods to herself “He still gets them sometimes- I can feel it. He gets so scared. He hasn’t told me what they’re about though, but I can imagine”

“Did you feel it yesterday?”

She’s quiet for a moment, thinking about it. Mike somewhat expected as much, especially with Will’s words of _“El doesn’t need to know everything”_ but knowing that she had felt it before but this time was stalling in giving her answer, wasn’t _exactly_ reassuring. After a moment, she shakes her head a confused look on her face “No. I don’t think so.”

“Right. Because at 4am last night, we were on lightbulb clear up duty”

If Mike wasn’t feeling very reassured before, the look on her face at that moment was certainly not making him feel any better

“Can you do me a favour?” she nods “Let me know if _that_ continues- you not being able to _connect_ , or however it works. And the broken lightbulbs. That too.”

“Mike it’s probably nothing. These nightmares don’t _feel_ nice, maybe Will just doesn’t want me to feel it too”

“But he hasn’t blocked you from feeling them before?”

She doesn’t answer

“I’m saying this for your sake too, ok? I just worry about it- these _powers._ I mean it’s great, that they’re coming back for you but something about it, how it works with Will. It doesn’t _feel_ right.”

“We’re careful, we can handle it”

“Doesn’t it just seem odd to you?”

“The Upside Down, The Mindflayer- it _will_ do these things to you. We’ve both experienced that place”

Mike frowns, “I dunno, maybe I’m thinking about it too much. Just- let me know, ok? I don’t want anything happening to either of you”

“It won’t- but I’ll let you know. If _anything_ changes” she nods giving him a small smile “But what _can_ change now is the music. Want me to change it? Will was saying not that long ago he was telling you to listen to things that _aren’t_ Corey Hart”

He gives a small laugh before rolling his eyes “It’s ok, I don’t mind really. Definitely change the song though, _Silent Talking_ was never my favourite”

She nods, focussing her attention to the cassette player and, after a short while he hears a familiar sound, signifying that the tape was forwarding to the next track. She stops and the track sounds just past the beginning of _Waiting For You,_ El looking at him with a proud grin.

They’re quiet, content with listening to the music and occasional small talk, usually in reference to things Max had spoken about in their recent phone calls.

“How are you, by the way?” El says after a little while

“Yeah we’re good-”

“No. Not you and Will. _You._ We haven’t really had time to just talk since you’ve been here”

He thinks for a moment “I’m- yeah. I’m great. Really great”

“And you’re happy now?”

“I am. Where’s all this coming from anyway? Should I not be happy?” He laughs nervously 

“It wasn’t nice, seeing you how you were last Christmas- and before. I didn’t like it so thought I would check in” El gives a small shrug and smiles at him. 

He felt grateful really, knowing that despite everything they could still be like _this._ That he could still have his _friend._

“He worries about how you’re feeling when you’re back in Hawkins. I worry as well. I know you have Nancy and The Party you can talk to but-”

He nods as she trails off, looking down at his hands “It’s- It’s hard to explain. Max, Lucas, Dustin, Nancy, I _know_ they’re fine with everything, I mean you were part of what went down at Christmas so you know how fine they are with it all. But there’s that part of me that just feels so _on edge._ My parents are a different subject all together but” he sighs, meeting her gaze “ _Here_ , with you, your mom, Jonathan, Hop- I guess- With _Will_ , I don’t have that feeling. I’m just _calm_.”

He absentmindedly looks at the door for a moment, faintly hearing what he can pick out as Mrs Byers followed by, what he can just about make out as _‘Mom, I know, can I go now?’_

Mike sits up, crossing his legs leaning his elbows on his knees, and El follows 

“I don’t like that this feels like it has to be a secret. I don’t.”

“No?”

“No.” He pauses for a moment, considering his next words, “I told him yesterday- well we told each other-“

“I know” El grins 

“I still find the connection business _creepy,_ you know?”

“I know that as well”

He rolls his eyes before continuing, “My point is, I don’t understand why I have to keep that a secret at home. It didn’t have to be a secret with you- well, for the most part.

“And it just frustrates me because I feel _good_ and I’m at a point where I can say to myself _‘I am dating a boy’_ which I know sounds _silly_ because _obviously_ I’m dating Will, but this big part of me, this big part of who I am, I have to be _so_ careful with sharing it and it _sucks_ ”

El takes hold of his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze, he smiles up at her “Can’t your mom just adopt me or something? Would make life easier”

“I don’t think dad would like _that_ very much” she laughs, “He looked annoyed enough when I came in for breakfast, I don’t know how he would feel if we suddenly told him you were going to _live_ with us”

“Oh, you should have seen him when he walked in. I don’t think I’ve seen someone turn so red”

“His face always did go like a tomato” she smirks, “Glad I’m not part of _that_ again”

He pushes her “Thanks for the support”

Before El can say anymore, the bedroom door opens and Will walks in, rubbing at his eyes, sitting at his sister’s desk with a groan.

Mike and El glance at one another, and then look to Will before she picks up her magazine, once again, simply stating “Well that sounded like a fun conversation”

Will removes his hands from his eyes sending her a glare

“ _Really_ fun.” Mike begins, smirking “I think a highlight was-” 

“Oh _screw you._ Both of you. You’re so lucky you didn’t have to sit through that”

_Well I kind of already have before_ he grimaces

“Just feel lucky you weren’t _threatened_ in his truck” He adds, “He locked me in, we drove home while he _talked at me_ and all I could do was nod as he _made_ me agree” he turns his head back to face El “How can you say he doesn’t hate me?”

“We weren’t really helping ourselves”

“So you think I deserved it? Are you _all_ out to get me?”

“I’m sorry-“ Will interrupts “But when did this become about you?”

“I think you’ll find that the only reason you got that talk in the first place was because of _me”_

“Well then, where were you for moral support in there?”

“As much as I would have _loved_ to have stayed I think you’ll remember that your mom told me to leave.” 

“Choosing my mom over your boyfriend. Way to suck up to the parents, Mike”  
  


Will reaches for the small pile of cassette tapes on El’s desk, sorting through them until he finds _Aladdin Sane._ It was one that Jonathan had given her last Christmas, as she _needed to expand her musical interests_ . She barely listened to it, but Will liked it, so she said she kept it around so he could put it on whilst they were studying together. Will stops the current song, presses eject and switches the tapes. As _Watch that Man_ starts to play, he searches for the _Boy in the Box_ case and can’t find it, so he puts the tape in the Bowie case instead. 

“Hey!” El calls out to her brother “Put it in the right one. You know that annoys me”

“Maybe if we swap the tapes, you’ll finally listen to some good music for once” Will retorts, standing from the desk chair, and walking over to the bed, sitting down next to him “Stop being a bad influence on Mike”

“I don’t _actually_ hate Corey Hart” Mike tells him, nudging Will slightly “And besides, when did this _become about me?”_ he grins at his boyfriend

Will grins back and before Mike can say anything else, he feels Will’s lips on his own. He’d moved so quickly that Mike barely caught it. He kisses back softly before pulling away, grin intensified. He can’t quite comprehend that this is his life now. That he’s _allowed_ to do this, allowed to be here, with Will, with his _boyfriend._ He’s just about to lean in again, when he hears

“This is why Dad hates you” El chimes in, looking back down and turning a page in her magazine.

Mike leans over, not taking his eyes away from Will and plucks the magazine out of her hands, tossing it on the floor

“Dad doesn’t hate him, El” Will rolls his eyes at her

“He does” Mike adds, and whilst he _is_ joking, he knows that there is a part of Hopper that doesn’t particularly care for him, and he hates how that makes him feel. He doesn’t want to be on bad terms with _The Parents_ forever.

“He _doesn’t”_ Will stresses “He’s just-” _  
_

_“_ Overprotective?” El interrupts “Overbearing? _Overdramatic?”_

“How about all of the above?” Will sighs “It’s just. I don’t get it. And I _really_ didn’t need them to talk to me again, _especially_ when there isn’t anything new to talk about” he rests his head in his hands “But, I’m just so glad, _so glad_ it’s not _me_ he has the problem with. I don’t know what I would have done if he’d had a problem with me being gay. I’m still worried he does”

“Hey” Mike says, placing a comforting hand on Will’s shoulder, rubbing it slightly “It’s _okay._ As annoying as it is, he is just looking out for you. You know your mom wouldn’t keep him around if he had a problem with you. He’s just acting the way parents act when their kids are in relationships - if anything he was even worse with me and El”

“I guess” Will mutters

“Besides” Mike adds “If he ever has a problem with it, I could take him”

Will laughs “He owns a gun, Mike”

“ _Two,_ actually” El helpfully informs them

“Two guns, Mike. You wouldn’t stand a chance” Will pauses and takes Mike’s hand “But _thank you_ ”

And as Mike leans over to kiss Will again, a pillow hits the side of his head before their lips can meet

 _"El!_ What was that for?” he grabs the pillow turning to throw it back. She hasn’t moved from her earlier position, but a small trickle of blood escapes her nose. He aims the pillow but she stops it before it can hit her, and it falls to the bed instead. She rolls her eyes at him and, as she wipes at her nose, provides them both with a simple

_“Get a room”_

_I was right,_ Mike thinks, _She definitely spends too much time with Max._

* * *

**April 16th 1987, Hawkins, Indiana.**

“Where is she?” Steve asks, tapping his fingers against the cash desk at _Family Video._

It was a Thursday afternoon, and The Party had dropped by after school to hang out with Steve and Robin for a bit at the start of their shift. The store was dead, as it usually was on a Thursday, and they were currently the only customers.

“Dude, calm down” Dustin reassures “She’ll be here”’

“Yeah, she’s probably just running late” Max adds

“It’s _Robin”_ Steve stresses “She’s a mess sometimes but she’s never _running late”_ _  
  
_

Mike thought he was being a little bit dramatic, but he decided not to comment. He walks over to the _Stand By Me_ display Steve had _proudly_ set up upon the film’s release, picking up one of the tapes, opening the case, closing it, and placing it back down on the display again on Steve’s call of _‘Hey, you ruin the display, you’re making it again ok?’_ He rolls his eyes but continues to look through the display.

_This actually sounds pretty good,_ he thinks, _maybe one for the next Party movie night._

His thoughts are interrupted by Steve’s ‘ _f_ _inally!’_ echoing across the store.

Mike turns around just in time to see Robin burst through the door “Where have you bee-hey, Robin, what happened? What’s _wrong?”_ the tone in Steve’s voice changes the second he looks at Robin’s face. 

“Nothing, dingus” she retorts, and Mike notices that her voice sounds stifled almost as if she had a cold “Stop being distracted by your children, and get back to work” She slings her backpack under the counter, and starts to pin her name tag to her shirt, her head low.

Mike glances to the rest of The Party to see them sharing a confused look, before looking over to Steve who moves a step closer to Robin, taking a hold of her wrist and lifting her head to meet his gaze “No, what’s up?

“Nothin-” she says, pulling out of his grasp

“Hey, have you been _crying?”_ Steve interrupts

“Yeah, from knowing I have to spend all evening with you” She snaps back as she absentmindedly starts to tidy the cash desk. Mike notices Steve frown at the tone, clearly not used to it. They always joked with each other, and a lot of that involved mocking jokes, but the tone of Robin’s voice this time seemed harsher than normal. 

“Robin” Steve replies, voice serious “What happened?”

“Yeah” Dustin chimes in, leaning over the desk, and placing his hand on top of her own. She stops her fiddling with the stapler she’d been positioning and repositioning next to the register.

“My _incredibly_ homophobic aunt is in town” she explodes, but a calm expression appears on her face after she says it. Mike recognises it as a feeling he has experienced before, that moment after you can finally let out what’s been eating away at you for so long. Even though the situation isn’t any better, just for a moment, you _are._

Robin sighs, and when she speaks again her voice is quieter, dejected “And she had some _things_ to say”

“ _Bitch!”_ _  
  
_

“Dustin, you can’t call her aunt a bitch” Lucas slaps his arm

“She is a bitch” Robin retorts, laughing slightly before sighing again “My parents are _so_ cool with it all, with _me_ , but when our family visits I just wonder if I’m making more problems than it’s worth”

“Robin, you’re _not_ a problem” Max stresses

“I _know_ . I _do_ know that. It’s just -”

“ _Hard”_ Mike finishes for her, before he can stop himself. 

“Yeah” Robin agrees, giving him a look, and he swiftly pulls away his gaze “It really is”

“Wow between River Phoenix over here” Steve says, gesturing at Mike “And your family drama, this shift just got a lot more depressing” 

Robin pushes him, but smiles nonetheless

“What are you even talking about?” Mike asks, rolling his eyes. 

“River Phoenix?” Steve asks, raising his eyebrow when Mike gives him a _‘I don’t know what that means’_ “He’s in the movie” he adds, gesturing to the _Stand by Me_ display. Mike shrugs

“I didn’t put that display together for you to just take apart when you want, Wheeler. You’re meant to _watch_ movies, not just open and close the VHS case”  
Mike flips him off. Steve rolls his eyes, before turning back to Robin.

“For real, are you ok?” Mike hears him ask “Do you want the evening off? It’ll be a pretty quiet night, I’ll be fine alone” he reassures her. She shakes her head, going back to playing with the stapler.

“ _More than happy_ to help, too” Dustin adds, and at Steve and Robin’s glance he defends himself “I’m here enough, I could probably do a better job in one night than Steve’s done in his entire career _”_

“I’m not really one for child labour, Henderson” 

“I’m almost _seventeen._ Not a kid. Need I remind you that we fought _evil Russians and_ Interdimensional beings _and_ lived to tell the tale? _”_

“And yet, I bet you don’t even know how to operate a cash register” Robin chimes in

“ _You_ were working at _Scoops_ at seventeen, it can’t be that hard”

“Yeah well my expert decoding of a secret Russian message shows that I’m _clearly_ smarter than you” she exaggerates her point by aiming the stapler toward him, clicking it a few times.

Dustin reaches to grab it, and they tussle for a few moments, fighting over it. Robin remains victorious, and keeps hold of the stapler, letting out a “ _hah!”_.

Steve rolls his eyes with a not so subtle _‘children’._ Dustin steps back from the desk a little, and Robin leans so her elbows are against it and her head is in her hands. 

“Look” she sighs “Thank you. All of you, but I’ll be fine. It’s shitty, but I’m cool. I could use the distraction, really. I left the house just as her and my mom started fighting” 

_“Yikes”_ Max sympathises. Robin nods at her grimace. 

It’s then that the ring of the bell indicating a customer breaks them all out of the bubble they were in. They all jump away from the cash desk, except for Mike whose own jump almost causes the display to topple. He steadies himself just in time, and looks to the door to see a middle aged couple walk through the door. Steve and Robin immediately move to look busy, Steve asking if he can help them. Robin stays by the cash register, but with an out of character smile on her face. Mike knew that the owner of _Family Video_ had a lot of friends in town, and Steve and Robin always tried to stay in the good books of unfamiliar customers, as they didn’t know who would tattle back to him. 

“Thanks for all your help” Max calls to Steve as he walks toward the _new releases_ section of the store. He gives them a wave, and Max, Lucas and Dustin walk over to where Mike is standing.

“Hey, I’ll meet you outside ok? I figure it’s time I check this out” he picks up the _Stand By Me_ case from earlier. The Party shrug before walking out of the door, removing their bikes from the rack

He walks over to Robin, who was absent mindedly tapping at the buttons on the cash register. He silently hands over the box, and she gives him a curious look before starting to ring it up.

“It wasn’t cool. What your aunt said”

Robin looks up from the register 

“Really wasn’t cool. I hate that she was like that with you, you don’t deserve that”

“Look, Mike-”

“She _knows you_ . She’s known you forever, and for her to just treat you like such _crap_ , it’s _bullshit._ You’re not different, you haven’t suddenly changed because you like girls or like both. For her to say that- to say that to _you._ It’s not her that doesn’t need you in her life, it’s _you_ that doesn’t need her.”

She looks at him, tilting her head slightly, almost as though she’s processing his words, thinking about what to say next- a look of curiosity expressed across her face. He swallows hard, holding her gaze as her expression softens, blinking a few times. She goes to say something, stopping herself.

But he feels he knows what she was going to say and _nods._

“Do you know that? What you’ve just told me, about not being different. Do you know that as well?”

“This isn’t about me right now-”

“ _Chill_ Wheeler, I’m just checking in. We may as well stick together, right?”

He pauses for a moment before answering with a small “I’m getting there. I’ve- well I’ve had a lot of help with that”

She raises an eyebrow “Oh really?”

“Well, yeah” he shrugs, self consciously

“That’ll be $3” she holds out her hand, and Mike scrambles to get some coins out of his back pocket. He hands them over and she slots them in the cash register, and puts his rental on the desk, before looking back up at him.

“So, this _help-_ does it have a name?”

Mike puts his hands in his coat pockets, rocking on his feet before straightening up and crossing his arms

“So _yes_ then” she smirks “So who’s the lucky guy, or girl. I don’t judge” 

“A _guy”_ he blurts quickly, then lowers his voice “Will. It’s Will”

“ _Byers?_ Mixtape Boy?”

“ _Mixtape boy?_ What’s that supposed to mean? _”_

“Christmas? You came in here and were being all weird about this mixtape you were making. _Songs that will make him think?”_

_I almost forgot about that_ he thinks. It had seemed so long ago now, since he’d come into _Family Video_ after being very much cooped up in his room trying to create the mixtape for Will- being faced with _light_ questioning about why he was going to this much of an effort to create a Christmas gift he would love. It all seemed so obvious to him now, because _of course_ there was a reason for the effort, but he couldn’t help but feel a little strange that though he had been so adamant at the time, so quick to reassure this tape didn’t mean what they thought it meant, clearly, this was seen through.

“Yeah, _M_ _ _ixtape Boy_ ” _he mutters as Robin gives a small laugh

“He liked the painfully obvious pining of _Keep On Loving You_ by _REO Speedwagon_ then?”

“ _Stop.”_

She holds her hands up in defeat as he rolls his eyes, taking his backpack off his back, the tape off the desk, and beginning to put it inside.

“Assume everything worked out then?”

“Yeah. Yeah it did” he zips up his backpack and places it back on his back “But really, all of that, what happened with your Aunt. You don’t deserve that. I know it’s easier said than done, but please try not to listen to her”  
“Thank you” is all she says in reply, but Mike can see the genuine sincerity on her face

He smiles “We may as well stick together, right?” 

She smiles back.

* * *

“So. When are you going to tell _your_ parents?” Dustin asks Mike as they’re walking back from the video store

Mike looks around, making sure they’re alone

“Dude, keep your voice down”

“Mike it’s just us-”

“You never know” he pauses “And I don’t know. Not yet. Not now” 

“Well, what’s the worst that can happen, really? We've all done a _lot_ worse.”

Mike snorts “Believe it or not, that won’t be how my parents see it”

“Either way, they’re not going to hate you” 

“I don’t _think_ that they’ll hate me, but at the same time, I don’t know _what_ they’ll do. I don’t particularly _want_ to be disowned-”

“Mike, they’re not going to disown you” Lucas interrupts, rolling his eyes

“Easy for you to say” Mike mutters “You can’t tell me that’s _not_ going to happen, so stop pestering me about it”

“Dude we didn’t mean any harm” Dustin says, holding his hands up in surrender

“Yeah” Lucas adds “I just thought telling them might be nice. You wouldn’t have to be so secretive anymore”

“Telling my parents doesn’t mean telling _the whole town._ Do you know how many bigoted people there are here? I’m not going to be able to be _open_ about this until I’m in college” 

“That sounds like a bit of an exaggeration” Dustin says

“Hey” Max chimes in “Don’t assume that this is something easy for Mike. I don’t know Mr Wheeler _too_ well, but even though Mrs. Wheeler is pretty cool, the scary thing about coming out is that you _don’t_ know how people will react. Mike will tell his parents when - and _only_ when - he feels ready, to. We don’t rush that. Got it?”

 _“Got it”_ Lucas and Dustin echo

Mike stays silent for the rest of the way home. He thinks over Dustin and Lucas’ words and really lets himself think about what would happen if he told his parents. He knows it would surprise them, and he knows they probably wouldn’t get it ( _Dad, especially)_ but he’d like to think that it would be something they’d be able to get through. His mom always reminds him that he can talk to her, and while he doesn’t think this is something she had in mind when she says it, he can’t help but think, can’t help but _hope,_ that she’d be understanding. That she’d be cool the way Mrs. Byers was; the way that Robin’s parents were.

He says goodbye to his friends one by one as they arrive at their individual houses, until it’s just him and Lucas stood at the foot of his driveway. Mike barely remembers getting home.

“Dude, are you ok?” Lucas asks, waving his hand in front of his face

“What?” he replies, shaking his head as if the action would remove the thoughts “Oh, yeah. I’m good. I’ll see you tomorrow”

“See you” Lucas echoes, and he gives Mike a curious look before heading toward his own house on Maple. 

Mike notices that his father’s car isn’t in the driveway, meaning that his mom was currently home alone. He wonders if now could be a good moment, not to necessarily _tell_ her, but to _talk_ to her, to bring up the topic somehow so he can gage how she’d react. He thinks that if he can figure out what she might say, what she might _do,_ it will curb his anxiety a little. 

He steadies himself, walking toward the front door. Trying the handle, he notices that it’s unlocked and he steps inside, kicking off his shoes.

“Mom? Are you here?” he calls out

“In the kitchen!” she calls back and he shuffles toward her voice

He walks through the entryway, sentence already on his tongue

“Hey mom, can I talk to yo-” but he is shushed by her fingers, which she raises, indicating that she’s on the phone.

“I couldn’t believe it” she replies to whoever is on the phone, and Mike notices it’s in her usual gossip tone “Not until Jackie told me herself. He was having an affair, with another _man”_

Mike feels his heart rate increase “I never would’ve pictured him for a queer. It makes me feel _so_ uncomfortable, especially now with this _epidemic_ going around”  
  
Mike flinches. Tenses. His fists clench. He turns away from his mom, from this almost conversation, from every thought that for a moment seemed _so_ good and heads to his bedroom, heart heavy in his chest.

_Nevermind._

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow us both on tumblr [@mayfixlds](https://mayfixlds.tumblr.com/) [@okwillthewise](https://okwillthewise.tumblr.com/)


	5. For once I have something I know won't desert me, I'm not alone anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She reaches to take his free hand, giving it a squeeze
> 
> “I want you to be the one to give me away”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. We're sorry this took forever.  
> Long story short, we had an idea, wrote the majority of the chapter and deleted it.  
> BUT we're back and this chapter is a two-parter. It was going to be one chapter but the count was a _little_ long. 
> 
> Regardless, we hope you enjoy it! Part 2- which is a direct continuation for the end of this chapter- should be out tomorrow or Saturday so keep a look out!

**Monday April 27th, 1987 - Benton, Illinois.**

It happens _again_ in the early hours that morning- the dreams now so frequent his _ritual_ after has become more a _routine._ He’ll wake with a gasp, ground himself, check the lamp- if the bulb is broken, he’ll dispose of it in the waste bin- and then he’ll attempt to fall back to sleep. 

So when his mom begins to ask if _‘everything is ok’_ as his under eye area becomes darker by the day, he’s not entirely surprised.

“Mom, _really,_ I’m fine. I just didn’t sleep too well last night” He can feel El staring at him across the breakfast table but makes a point of ignoring her.

“That’s four times now since last week” His mom says, sitting down next to him. She places her coffee down on the table before placing her hand on his forehead, “You don’t feel like you’re getting sick. Maybe you should stay home just in case? Get some rest” 

He gently pushes her hand away, moving his hair back into its former position, “Honestly, I’m ok. Don’t worry about me-”

“Are they working you too hard at school? I can call your art teacher and tell them that helping out with scenery for the school play is too much”

“ _Mom!”_

She holds up her hands in defence, mumbling a quick _“Ok”_

He picks up his spoon, taking a few bites of his cereal, El still staring between bites. A few more spoonfuls is all he can take before he stands from the breakfast table.

“I’ve just remembered. My Bio teacher wants me in early today, got to help set up”

It’s so obviously a lie but he just hopes that his family doesn’t catch on.

“I’ll come with-”

“No.” He interrupts El, “You’re not in my class. You’d just be waiting around. I’ll be home around four”

There’s a part of him that feels bad, the look on her face as he shrugs on his backpack and leaves the house certainly not helping. He’s been avoiding her a little, at least on the _supernaturally inclined_ side of things- their _power building_ sessions now virtually non-existent, Will finding himself conveniently busy, retraining himself in private to keep things quiet, or as quiet as he could manage without drawing too much suspicion.

And that’s _fine._ He never wanted this anyway. He always said it was a reminder of what happened back in 1984, so allowing himself to have this was a _mistake_ he should have never made. He was getting too comfortable, enjoying them _too_ much, so, to Will, it was of absolutely no coincidence that the moment he started to let that guard down more and more, the nightmares began.

So after successfully managing to avoid El the majority of the day, only to have her grab hold of his backpack at lunch period before he has time to take his lunch somewhere else that day, Will reluctantly joins her at their usual table. 

Neither of them say anything for a short while, El glancing at him between sips of her orange juice and Will picking off the pineapple off the slice of pizza the lunch lady had given him, noting that he seemed to have an awful lot more on his slice than El did. It’s when Will feels that familiar _goosebumps_ feeling of El trying to breach his emotions, which he successfully blocks, that she finally speaks.

“Is it because Jonathan is Dad’s _Best Man_?”

_He’s what?_

“Hang on, Jonathan is Dad’s _Best Man_? When did this happen?”

_And why didn’t Jonathan tell me? Why didn’t anyone tell me?_

“A couple of days ago. You were doing English homework, but it sounded a lot like you were just on the phone to Dustin. I walked into the living room just as he’d finished asking. It was very sweet” El replies bluntly, picking up her juice, taking another sip, “So, that’s not why you’re being weird?”

“No.”

“Then why _are_ you being weird?” El frowns, taking a bite of her pizza. 

“I’m _not_ being weird” he groans, looking down, removing the last few pieces of pineapple from his own.

“Yes, you are” she insists “You’ve been weird all day. You’ve been weird the last few days. Avoiding me, blocking me out”

“You don’t have to be in my head all the time, you know” he notes, finally taking a bite out of his now pineapple-free pizza. He looks down at his lunch tray, now full of small pieces of pineapple and really wishes the school would give other options. 

“You used to only block me out when you’re hiding something. Or when you’re with Mike. Mike isn’t here, so, you’re being weird” 

“Maybe I’m thinking about Mike,” His voice is higher than usual and he thinks he couldn't be a worse liar if he tried. “Did you consider that?”

She screws up her face

“Gross” still frowning, she prompts him again “But no, you’re not. You’re being weird. Tell me what’s wrong” leaning over, she takes hold of the hand that isn’t holding the pizza, squeezing it “I can help” 

“El” he sighs “I’m fine”

“Friends don’t lie”

“Yeah, well, lucky you’re my sister then” he mutters

“What was that?” she asks, eyebrow raised

“Nothing” shaking his head, he adds “Where is this even coming from? Why do you keep trying to get inside my head?”

“I heard you last night. It happened again, didn’t it?” Will gulps before El continues. “And I just need- _want_ to make sure that-”

“Hey guys,” a voice interrupts her.

Will is glad for the distraction, as he really didn’t want to be getting into his nightly routine in the school cafeteria. Looking up from the table, Will gives a confused smile to a _familiar_ face- Nick, “Room for one more?” He asks sheepishly before Will gives a slow nod, prompting him to sit down next to El- who grins at him in return.

_Well this is a surprise._ He thinks as Nick crosses his arms, placing his elbows on the table.

He’d been trying to get Nick to sit with them for weeks now. Being in the same Art Class, they still spoke pretty often and despite their breakup, Will did miss having him around. He was a genuinely nice guy - especially when it came to the whole _Mike situation_ \- and Will hoped they could stay friends. 

“Why are you?-” Will begins, trailing off towards the end, looking over at El, then back to Nick

“El and I have been talking, after we saw each other at the diner,” he gestures between himself and El, “and, well-”

“ _I_ invited him. That’s ok, right Will? You did say I should during Spring Break”

“Yeah- yeah of course. It’s nice to see you, I’m just surprised. Mainly because _I’ve_ asked you to sit with us, _multiple times_. So really, I’m just wondering what changed, I guess.”

“I did need _time_ , Will.”

“No, I know, I did too,” Will ignores El’s frown from across the table, they really didn’t need to get into the semantics of things right now. “I’m just glad we’re ok”

“Me too” he pauses “So, how’s the undead dad?” 

Will shoots El a quick look, but she’s focused on Nick and misses it.

“He’s fine” she informs him “Angry at Will most of the time because of how long he spends on the phone, so it’s safe to say he’s recovered”  
Nick gives a small laugh “What happened to him, anyway? It all sounds very-”

“Weird?” Will finishes for him

Laughing again, Nick agrees “Yeah. Weird”

When neither he or El speak, Nick hurries to reassure them “You don’t have to tell me, not if you don’t want to”

“It’s not that we don’t _want_ to” El hesitates, thinking over her words carefully “It’s that we _can’t”_ _  
_

“Legally, she means” Will adds, noting Nick’s surprise at the seriousness of his tone “It’s a lot of-”

“Shared trauma?” Nick smiles reassuringly 

“Shared trauma” Will and El echo 

“Long story short. We thought he was dead, but he’d really been taken by some-”

“Bad men” El interrupts 

“Bad men” Will agrees “A family friend and our mom did some research, and we were able to find him alive and bring him home. It’s very complicated”

Nick lets out a low whistle “It sounds complicated” turning to El, he adds “But no matter how complicated, I’m so glad you’ve gotten him back” 

El smiles “Me too”

“Even if he does like to stare out Mike whenever he comes over” Will rolls his eyes “ I guess one good thing about the breakup is you don’t have to deal with him”

“ _Actually_ ” El starts, stringing out the first syllable “He _really_ liked you, Nick. Said you had a good handshake and that you’re a nice kid” 

“I’m sorry, but whose side are you on here?” Will frowns

“No one’s” she rolls her eyes “But wow, _you’re_ starting to sound like _Mike_ ” El reaches across the table, poking him in the shoulder, Will brushing her hand away promptly after.

“She _is_ right, you know. I only had the _pleasure_ of hanging out with him for a few days and that was a _very_ Mike thing to say” Nick says in agreement, taking a sip of his can of _Coke._

“What happened to you being a good ex-boyfriend?” Will asks 

Nick raises an eyebrow “I think I’m entitled to a _few_ digs” 

Will rolls his eyes again, but gives Nick a smile.

There is only small talk for a little whilst they eat. Sharing ‘ _How are yous?’_ and complaining about the very limited food options Benton High School had to offer. It’s just as Will is wiping his mouth to remove any pizza sauce, that Nick speaks again

“So, El was saying that you-”

“Ok, that’s the second time you’ve said that. Since when do you and El talk?” 

“We don’t- well not really. But yeah, sometimes” Nick shrugs, nonchalant, causing Will to frown.

_If all of those don’t mean entirely different things._

“I’m allowed to have friends outside of you and The Party, Will” El adds

“I didn’t say you weren’t” he defends himself “I just didn’t realise Nick was one of them” gesturing to Nick, he adds “He never mentions in class that you speak”

“Well, we _do_ and he is my friend. Right, Nick?”

“Yeah, of course” He smiles “Your sister is kinda cool, Will” 

“She’s alright, I guess,” He says with a shrug, looking back down to his now, nearly empty, tray save for a can of _Pepsi_ he’d picked up by mistake, a small pile of pineapple he’d removed from his pizza, and an apple.

“You’re being weird again” El adds “Why?”

“I’m not being weird. This-” he says, gesturing between her and Nick “Was unexpected. But it’s cool, I’m glad you have a friend” 

“We’re _all_ friends, Will” Nick smiles 

“I know, but- never mind, it’s just nice to see” Will rushes, taking another quick look between the both of them before taking a bite out of his apple.

He notices Nick and El give each of a look before turning back to him. It’s fleeting, but he catches it, and the action only serves to make him more confused. He really _doesn’t_ have a problem with them being friends, he loves that two people he cares about can still get along despite everything that happened. It’s more the idea that this friendship seemed to blossom without him having any idea it was happening in the first place. He knew that they’d seen each other at the diner but, as far as he knew, that’s where _this_ ended and if he was being honest with himself, it did hurt him a little that neither of them thought to tell him. He shakes the thought, bringing himself back into the moment, seeing El looking at his tray.

“What?”

“Can I have your pineapple?”

Will grimaces, “Sure, anything to get rid of it from in front of me”

He takes his _Pepsi_ from the tray, before pushing it in front of her. She grins at him before picking up a piece and popping it into her mouth. Will rolls his eyes, opening his can and taking a sip, glancing at El as he does so- not missing the way she smiles when Nick takes a piece too, muttering _“More for us, right?”_

And another thought comes into his head, one that he doesn’t particularly like, but something that was becoming more and more evident that he was struggling with on a personal level.

Something that despite assurances, despite apologies, despite being told _“We’re all friends”_ he finds hard to shake. Mixed with the latest revelation that Jonathan was his dad’s _Best Man_ and he’s, seemingly, the last to know and _apparently_ despite the history and everything they’d been through, he wasn’t even considered for the position.

Will can’t help but feel like _second best_.

He’s grateful when the bell rings, signalling the end of the lunch period. Nick gives them a goodbye before heading off to his fifth period, and El and Will head to their own - Bio and English respectively. The classroom’s aren’t too far apart, so they walk part of the way together

“What was that about?” Will asks, as they walk down the hall

“What was what about?

“You and Nick?”

“You wanted him to sit with us, so I got him to sit with us”

“Yeah, which was nice. But you and Nick were all-” he gestures vaguely with his hands

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” she says, as they reach her classroom door

He raises an eyebrow “Friends don’t lie”

“Yeah, well, good job you’re my brother then” is all she says, before giving him a quick goodbye and making her way into the room.

* * *

**Sunday, May 10th 1987 - Benton, Illinois.**

“Hey Mom, where is everyone?” Will asks that Sunday morning as he walks into the living room. He’d had a little lie in today; he and El had been up quite late studying for finals and hadn’t gotten to sleep until around two in the morning. He notices that the clock on the fireplace says it’s a little after eleven. He’d gone to say hi to El this morning, but it seemed she’d already gone out for the day. The house is strangely quiet, save for his mom, who looks up at him from where she’s sat on the couch, flicking through bridal catalogues. 

“Good morning, honey” she says, smiling “Dad took your sister out into town, she needs more school supplies and Jonathan is at work”  
He gives a small noise in agreement, before making his way toward the couch. He sits down next to her, leaning over and peering into the magazine, pointing at one of the dresses before looking up at her and saying “I think this would suit you”

“You think? Even the colour?”

“Yeah” he agrees “It’s nice. I was skeptical about the blue, but I think El was right, it _does_ look nice”

“I think so, too,” she smiles again “I think we’re allowed to change the rules a little, after everything we’ve been through. Plus, we’ve both been married before, it would be boring if it was all the same again”

He nods in agreement, and they sit in a comfortable silence as she flips through the catalogue - Will occasionally giving his opinion - and circles anything she likes.

“Do you have more studying to do, today?” she asks after a while, apropos of nothing 

“A little” he admits sheepishly “But not as much as yesterday. We managed to get on top of it. Why?”

“Well, if you spent as much time studying as you did on the phone-” but she’s smiling, and nudges him playfully

He rolls his eyes, nudging back

“I asked because I was wondering if you could spare an hour or two to go get ice cream with me?” 

“Sure?” he replies, raising an eyebrow, “Is no-one staying inside the house today?”

“Well, I just think we should take advantage of the weather”

So it’s an hour later when Will finds himself, _Peanut Butter and Chocolate_ tub in hand, walking down north main street, using his spoon to take a sample of his mom’s own _Mint Choc-Chip._

_“Hey!”_ she laughs, dodging his attempt for a second spoonful “You wanted Mint? You should of asked for it”

“Where would be the fun in that?” he grins, and she smiles too, holding out her tub so he can take another scoop 

“Thanks” he says, mouth full of ice cream, and he notices she looks happy, so happy in fact that she doesn’t even chide him for talking with food in his mouth

“You used to do this all the time when you were little” she notes, swiping some peanut butter and chocolate this time

“Do what?” he asks

“Steal _my_ food” she jests, reaching for his tub again. He lets her. “Whenever we’d go out for food, you’d choose something, but then just try to eat mine instead”  
  


His mom doesn’t talk about his childhood often, at least not about the years before Lonnie left anyway. He figures that it must be really hard for her, to remember the time where they were some semblance of a family. After he left, she _was_ happier - at least that’s what Jonathan says - and she talks about those memories fondly, but whilst Lonnie was still there, whilst he was still supposed to at least be _trying_ to be their dad, those times were often best left forgotten. He knows that she loves him and Jonathan more than anything, but he’s not as naive as he was when he was younger, and he knows that Lonnie left scars that even she has only recently acknowledged. He notices her smile has become slightly more subdued, and he tries to keep the conversation light hearted.

“I’m sure you didn’t bring me out here on this sunny day to lecture me about how I always used to steal your food” he nudges into her slightly, offering out his ice cream to her again. She laughs, taking another scoop and he notices her smile is back. They turn into Benton Community Park, which is full of people taking advantage of the weather.

“You got me” she admits after she finishes her bite, wiping some of the peanut butter from her bottom lip “It _is_ a nice day to be outside, but I thought ice cream might be a nice preface to what I want to talk to you about” 

_Well there’s now_ many _things that could mean._

“Are we moving again?” he asks, concerned. As much as he misses his friends, he _does_ love Benton. His time here had truly been full of so many moments where he could be his complete self. Once the thought enters his mind, he can’t shake it. He’d only be willing to move again _if_ it was back to Hawkins

“No we’re not moving” She says, stopping next to a bench. She sits down, and gestures toward the space next to her “Sit with me. My back is hurting from all this walking” 

He sits down slowly, giving her a confused glance

“You’re not-you’re not pregnant? I know you said no before, but you _can_ me if you are-”

“No honey, the answer hasn’t changed from last time” she pauses “It’s actually about the wedding”

“Oh” 

“I know you know that Jonathan has been asked to be your dad’s best man”  
  


He nods.

And in the little over a week since finding out in the school cafeteria, he also knew that El had been asked to be one of their mom’s bridesmaids - along with Nancy. He wasn’t _jealous_ , per se, but he had felt a slight pang of sadness that his whole family were involved except for him. Ultimately, he knew it was up to his parents and them alone, but he would have liked to have been _in_ the ceremony in some way rather than just _at_ the ceremony. 

“Yeah” he replies “El was super excited”

“I know it might have seemed like we were leaving you out”  
  


 _Yes it did,_ he thinks

“No it didn’t” he says

  
She smiles “Yes, it did” still smiling she adds “The reason why neither of us have asked you yet was because I was waiting for the right moment”

“Right moment for what?” he frowns at her

She reaches to take his free hand, giving it a squeeze

“I want you to be the one to give me away”

_Oh._

He doesn’t really know what to say, not really. His first thought is that surely, out of the two of them, Jonathan would have been the better choice. He was the oldest, more mature and acted, for Will in particular, as not only a brother but also a father figure. Where Will was allowed to play D&D in Mike’s basement, and focus on creating imaginary worlds with friends, Jonathan was always out working, taking Will places, and helping around the house. Will had offered a few times whilst they were still in Hawkins, to get a paper route but Jonathan had always told him _‘You don’t need to worry, I’ve got mom covered if she needs any help’._ He was always providing, whereas Will, well, all he did was cause trouble. 

But, he can see the way his mom is watching him now, waiting for his answer. He notices the eagerness on her face, the way that her eyes are lit up, the way that she’s smiling. She’d asked the question so surely, and without hesitation that he knows her mind is made up. So his second thought is that he wanted to see his mom like this _always._ She’d known so much loss, so much _grief_ , and he never wants her to face that again. So, if he gets to be a part of that, if he gets to be such a big part of her day and _give her away_ to someone who makes her the happiest she’d been in a long time, who makes their _whole family_ the happiest they’ve been in a long time, well then there’s no question about it.

_Of course_ he said yes

* * *

They arrive home around four in the afternoon. He can see both Jonathan’s and his dad’s car in the driveway so he’s confused when they open the door and he’s met with silence. It doesn’t last long however and only a few moments later he is met with an armful of _El,_ who pulls him into a bone crushing hug. 

“Did you say yes?!” she asks, voice muffled by her head in his shirt

“Of course I- wait?” he pulls away “How long have you known?”

“A couple of weeks” she grins “Are you mad at me for making you stress even more about not being involved”

He rolls his eyes “I wasn’t _stressed._ Come here” 

And he pulls her back in for another hug.

Turns out, El hadn’t needed more school supplies _(“but I did convince Dad to buy me a new backpack, it’s holographic”)_ and the real reason they’d gone out for the day was to get ingredients for the surprise Sunday dinner his dad and Jonathan _(“And I helped too!” El protested “Kid, you put the waffles in the ice box and made sure the whipped cream was in date”)_ had made. 

“You didn’t have to do all of this” Will said “Being taken for ice cream was enough”

“Nonsense,” His dad reassured as they sat down to eat “I know that for so long it was just you three, and that both you boys are so protective of your mom. But not only have you - both of you - have taken El in as a sister, you’ve now let me be your dad-” he stops for a moment, as if contemplating how to say what he wants to say next “It wasn’t even that long ago that I thought I had that taken away from me, and I never thought I’d be a dad again, but now to have you, to have all _three of you_ , it’s more than I could’ve imagined. Thank you for letting me be that, and for letting me have the chance to look after your mom. Well-” he smirks at his mom “As much as she’ll let me, we all know she can fend for herself”

“Yeah she can” Will agrees, and he hears his own voice sounding a little choked up “But I’m glad she doesn’t have to anymore”

“Sorry to break up the moment but this special dinner we’ve made is getting _really_ cold” Jonathan jests, putting a bowl of carrots down onto the table. 

“Oh, shush” Their mom jokingly scolds, wiping at her eyes. Their dad’s words hadn’t just had an impact on Will and both El and his mom were very misty eyed “I’m very grateful for all my boys” she smiles, scruffing up Will’s hair, who rolls his eyes in response “And my daughter - who I always secretly wanted” _(“Oh, thanks” Will and Jonathan echo. Their mom rolls her eyes)_ _  
_

“My point _is_ , I’m feeling very loved. But enough about me, Jonathan is right- the food is getting cold”

El holds up her glass 

“To Mom and Dad” she toasts

_“To Mom and Dad”_

* * *

The phone rings at 6:45pm that evening, with El letting out a huffed _‘he’s late’._ They’d all been sitting around in the living room after dinner, eating _Triple Decker Eggo Extravaganza’s,_ watching TV and casually wedding planning. His mom and dad had been perusing the catalogues again, with Will, El and Jonathan occasionally making their opinions heard.

“Will, can you get it? And tell Mike I’ll pick it up in a minute from my room?” El stands, making her way into the kitchen to dump her plate.

“Want me to pre-warn him that you’re mad at him?” He asks, making his way to the landline in the hallway

“No. Leave that to me.” She calls out, taking a glass from the kitchen cabinet.

And he picks up the phone.

“Hi.”

“Will?” Mike answers, confusion evident in his voice “Why are you picking up the phone?”

“Wow, thanks Mike. What a way to charm a guy.”

“No- I just meant-”

“I _know_ , don’t worry. El will pick up in a minute from her room. In the meantime, I have news.”

“Oh?” Is all Mike says, neither of them saying anything more for a moment. It’s after Will hears Mike exhale that he finally speaks again. “ _Hey you_ ”

_Oh. That’s new._

And Will feels _warm._

“ _Hi”_ he replies, smiling

“ _Hi._ So what’s your news?”

_“Really? I go to all this trouble and I’m losing not one, but two or my kids to Wheeler this evening”_ Will hears his dad say as El pokes her head into the archway, mouthing _‘one more minute’._

And judging by Mike’s groan through the receiver he presumes he’s heard it too.

“He really doesn’t like me does he?”

“Mike he doesn’t _not_ like you” Will reassures, “It’s just, and this is related to my news, after all that’s happened today, you probably could have arranged a better day to call El”

_‘Don’t worry, Jonathan won’t be calling Nancy for another hour’_ His mom now responds, laughing at his Dad’s groan and Will can’t help but think he’s never going to be able to tell his news.

“Exciting day in the Byers-Hopper household then?” 

“Too exciting to share apparently” Will rolls his eyes, as El walks past him, and swiftly into her room, glass of milk in hand. “Look, El will be picking up in a second, so this is going to be _a lot_ more rushed than I wanted it to be, but mom’s asked me to give her away at the wedding.”

“I couldn’t imagine anyone else she _would_ ask”

“ _Really?”_

“Well, _yeah_. Sometimes I think you’re the only person that doesn’t see how important you are-”

“ _Well, that’s too much of_ that _for one day”_

_El._

Will groans, “Yeah fine, have your weekly gossip. I’m hanging up now”

“Can you shut my door for me?” El says, sticking her head around the door, a grin on her face.

“Why am I now involved in a three-way call?” Mike mutters to himself

“Sure. _Now,_ I’m hanging up though. For real. I’ll talk to you tomorrow Mike” 

“Wait, Will-” He hears, as he lowers the phone away from his ear. He brings it back up swiftly.

“Yes?”

“I love you”

Will grins “I love you, too”

And the last thing he hears as he’s placing the phone down is a _‘You two are so gross’_ from El.

* * *

“So.” El begins, sitting on her bed, after shoo-ing Will away as he closes her bedroom door. “Why are you late?”

“Look, you lost the on-time privileges after you broke up with me. Now you get the _friend timings_ like everyone else.”

“But _why?”_

She hears Mike sigh through the receiver before he mutters “My mom wanted me to help Holly with school work. I got out of there as quick as I could. I didn’t _exactly_ plan to be late”

“I’ll let you off this time” she rolls her eyes “But don’t keep me waiting next time” Ignoring Mike’s _‘I can’t help it, El’,_ she continues “So, what’s Dustin been up to this week?”

As it so happened, this week Dustin had made it his goal to be asked out by the head cheerleader using various tactics such as ‘always being at her locker before her free-period’ and ‘leaving little notes at her desk in the advanced physics class they share.’ To no-one's surprise, it hadn’t exactly gone to plan. 

“Turns out she had a boyfriend who _really_ didn’t appreciate Dustin’s attempts at flirting.” Mike cringes through the phone.

“He didn’t do the _sound_ did he?”

“I wish I could tell you no.” Mike groans, “But anyway. What’s going on in Benton- apart from wedding planning and a dad that hates me?”

She hesitates for a moment, considering her options. Though they had established a _‘what’s said in our rooms, stays in our rooms’_ policy, El was very aware of who she was talking to and how easily said information could be passed on, and _who_ it would be passed on to.

So she takes a breath and begins, “This stays in _here_.”

“Ok? Is it serious? Is everyone alright?”

“Yes- I think so? I’m not too sure. Just, this stays in here. Don’t tell Will”

Mike snorts, “That’s very reminiscent of Christmas. You sure that’s a good idea?”

“ _Mike._ ”

And he pauses, before sighing and simply saying “Ok. It stays in the room.”

“I think Will is mad at me. Has he said anything?”

“El, it’s not really fair for me to say if he has-” El bites at her cheek “-but no. He hasn’t”

_But now I don’t know if that’s true._ She thinks as she shifts to lay down on her bed. 

“El. I mean it, he hasn’t. But you _really_ can’t just use me to get information about what Will has or hasn’t said”

“Ok.” She sighs 

“Why do you think he’s mad at you anyway? Things seemed pretty alright between you about ten minutes ago” She can hear him move to sit down, cursing under his breath as, she presumes, the wire gets stuck, hearing a slight clattering noise coming from the receiver. 

“Because I’m friends with Nick”

“Wait, _Nick_ Nick? The cause of a _very_ difficult and confusing three months for me, that Nick?” 

“What other Nick’s do you know?”

“I plan to keep them at a minimum” 

She rolls her eyes again, “Yes. That Nick. We were talking after we met at the Diner, with dad. I invited him to sit with us at lunch and I think it annoyed Will that he listened to me over him. Even though he _asked me_ to ask him when you were here” She can hear Mike go to speak and quickly interrupts, “No. He’s not jealous before you overthink about that. He loves you, he’s _so_ happy with you- we were talking last week about the future and he said something _gross_ about how he can’t imagine his without you. He’s just finding it a bit weird, I think”

“Really? He said that? I feel the same way” his response his quiet, as if he’s talking more to himself than her

“Did you miss the _gross?”_

“Shut up.” He pauses “How are _you_ feeling about it?”

“About you and Wi-”

“No- No, not about that. I know you said you think he’s feeling weird about you talking but how are _you_ feeling about it all?”

She hums for a moment, considering her response, “I like having him as a friend. We were kind of in a similar position last year”

“Sorry about that.”

“No, it’s ok. I just mean, It’s nice. And I want it to be nice for Will too. For all of us. He wants to be friends with me - and Will too - but I just feel like I’ve been caught between them”

“Can I ask you something?”

“You just did.”

“Ok _Max._ But really, and I know this is way too late to ask at this point, but did you find it weird? With me and Will?”

If El was honest with herself, yes it was. She knows they work so much better as friends, _as boyfriend and girlfriend we never had gossip time,_ and she cherished what they had now. But still, though all feelings were gone, it was weird seeing your brother kiss your ex-boyfriend, your brother tell your ex-boyfriend that he loves him and hear him say it back, and then hearing your brother get _the talk_ in case he needs it, as that’s something he may _do_ , with your ex-boyfriend.

So really, to say it was weird, was a little bit of an understatement.

“It was interesting at first” She settles on telling him

“You’re allowed to say you found it weird El. I know it’s not exactly the most conventional of situations” Mike laughs and El finds herself smiling “I know it’s a little different, but maybe that’s how Will is feeling. I know I’d feel a bit weird if I was in your place. He’ll be fine, it might just take some getting used to”

“But me and you are ok-”

“Exactly. So they will be too.” He pauses for a moment, “Some people just don’t get the privilege of hiding their ex in a fort in their basement for a week for a head start”

It’s El that laughs this time, “Thank you. I am glad with how everything worked out in the end though”

“Me too” He replies, before a small pause “So, any _developments_ on what we spoke about, at Spring Break I mean”

“I’m surprised it took you _this_ long to ask.”

“I needed to hear this week’s gossip first” El can tell he is grinning on the other end of the phone.

“I hope it didn’t disappoint” she jests before sighing “No developments. He’s blocking me out”

“Blocking you out? Has he been doing it _everyday?_ Surely that isn’t good”

El shakes her head “It’s not. We haven’t been practicing, not really. He gives me enough access as if he thinks I won’t notice, but when he has patterns it’s obvious what he’s doing. I just don’t know why he won’t talk about it. He has nightmares most nights”

“Probably not helped by the fact he’s keeping everything in” Mike mutters, “Is there anything you can do to help”

“Not if I can’t feel anything. I just hope that everything is ok. I will say though, if it was anything bad I think I’d know” she attempts to reassure. Before Mike can reply, however, there is a faint _click_ through the phone, signalling someone else had picked up. She thinks for a moment that it might be Will, again, but then she realises it’s not on her end.

_“Michael, I need your help upstairs”_   
  


_Oh._

_How much did she hear?_

“Mom, get off the phone” El hears Mike scream at Karen, despite what sounded like an attempt to cover up the receiver.

El hears a tiny click signalling that they were alone again.

“Sorry” Mike says “I hate that she does that. It’s such an invasion of privacy. I have to be _so_ careful sometimes”

El sighs “It’s ok. I guess I should let you go”

“Sorry the call got cut short” Mike apologises again

“You’ll just have to have some _really_ juicy gossip for next week” she smiles

“You got it”  
  


* * *

**Saturday June 13th, 1987- Benton, Illinois.**

“Hey man” Lucas greets as Will picks up the phone, letting out a small _‘hello’_

They talk for a little while, mainly catching up and exchanging pleasantries. As much as his conversations with Mike were the highlight of his days, he really enjoyed talking with his friends. He missed them being so close and he really did take it for granted having his best friends essentially living on his doorstep. He stays silent whilst he listens to Lucas fill him in on everything that was going on in Hawkins, just reveling in being with his friend - even if it couldn’t be in person. 

“And then Robin told us her homophobic aunt was in town” Lucas says from the other end of the phone

“Oh?”

“Yeah. She came into Family Video upset. Said her mom and her aunt had gotten into a fight. It seemed pretty serious and it left Mike a little shaken”

“Mike did tell me”

“Did he tell you about his mom, too?”

Will sighs “Yeah”

“It must be hard for you guys. I worry you’ll encounter someone like Robin’s aunt”

“We’ll be fine.” Will reassures, “We’re careful. Besides, if anyone tries anything we have El. Her powers are almost back at this point”

“Not sure I quite agree with you setting your sister on our fellows Americans”

Will snorts, “Why are you worried about this now anyway? Has anyone said anything?”

“Not _exactly_ ” Lucas responds, “Not really”

_That doesn’t sound convincing._

“You know that Mike has a picture of both of you in his locker right? There’s a picture of us as a group as well, but then there’s just one of you two”

“Yeah. I have the same one in mine” Will replies, confused as to where Lucas is going with this. He doesn’t think a picture in a locker suggests much. It’s not like he’d covered it in heart stickers or anything.

“He also _talks._ More than he used to anyway. I’m sure you know that he hangs out with Robin and Steve a lot now- which is _good_ and it’s nice to see him happy and that he has someone in Hawkins he can talk to that really _gets it._ But the outside world isn’t _Family Video_ and we just don’t want the wrong person to hear”

“Lucas, I’m not- and you _shouldn’t-_ tell him to stop talking about who he is-”

“I’m _not._ We just don’t want to see him get hurt.We don’t want to see _either of you_ get hurt.”

Lucas pauses, taking a breath, “Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing you - we all are. Just a week with your _friends._ Just like old times. Hey, maybe we could even play D&D. Dustin has been practicing as Dungeon Master with some kids from school.”

_A Dustin- made campaign? We’ve never done that before._

“Shall I bring my Will the Wise robes then?” Will jests, laughing as he hears Lucas groan on the other end of the phone

“No. _Definitely_ not.”

* * *

**Monday June 22nd, 1987- Hawkins, Indiana.**

“Thank you again for letting me stay, Mrs Sinclair” Will says as he steps over the threshold into Lucas’ house “My mom said to give you this - for food and anything else” he drops his duffle bag to the floor, and reaches into his wallet to hand over the three ten dollar bills his mom had given him to pass on.

“Oh don’t be silly” Mrs Sinclair replies, already shaking her head “You keep it, treat yourself to something nice this week with the boys” and she smiles at him “It’s nice to see you, Will. You’re looking good”

“Mom, can you stop accosting my friends?” Lucas complains from the top of the stairs, he makes his way down them two at a time. Mrs. Sinclair rolls her eyes at her son, scolding him for the way he swings on the handrail as he jumps down the final step. 

“Hey man” he says, smiling at Will “Greyhound, ok?” 

“It was the Greyhound” he shrugs “Nice to have my sister with me this time” 

“Did she get to Max’s ok?”

He nods “By the way, Max said to tell you that aside from Wednesday, they’re having _‘girl time’_ and not to bother them”

Lucas rolls his eyes and Mrs. Sinclair laughs

“It’ll be weird not seeing Max around this week. But I’m glad you boys are getting some quality time, too. Lucas was just saying last week how it’s weird without you” 

“It’s always nice to be back” Will smiles at them both

“I’ll leave you boys to it” Mrs. Sinclair says, a comforting hand on Will’s shoulder. She squeezes it softly “Let me know if you need anything this week, Will”

He smiles at her again and she turns, heading toward the kitchen.

“Come on, dude” Lucas prompts “Let’s go put your stuff in my room and then we can maybe hit up the arcade.” 

When they get up to Lucas’ room, Will drops his duffle bag on the camp bed that had been set up next to the desk, and promptly sits down next to it. 

“Dustin’s also been going on about how _unfair_ it is that you’re staying with me this week, and not him, so I thought maybe we could stop by later” Lucas continues

“Sure, sounds good,” Will responds, taking his backpack from his shoulders,. He rummages around it to find his walkie talkie and, once found swiftly tunes into the channel he’s looking for. Before he can speak, however, Lucas asks

“What are you doing?”

“Telling Mike I’m here?” He responds, his words sounding like a question. He’s confused by the look Lucas is giving him. His friend makes his way across the room, taking the walkie out of Will’s hands, and turning it off, closing the antena. 

“No” is all he says

“What do you mean no? Give it back. I told Mike I’d tell him when El and I arrived”

“Dude” Lucas starts “I love you both, but this is _our_ week. The rule for this week is _friends only_ . So. _I’ll_ talk to him.”

* * *

“How is this fair?” 

Since that day in April, Mike had found _Family Video_ had become a place he regularly frequented. Talking to Robin served as a form of comfort he wasn’t even aware he needed. His friends were _great_ , of course they were but it wasn’t quite the same as talking with someone that _understood._

So, if every Tuesday after school and Saturday morning Mike happened to be _unreachable_ by his friends, that was ok by him.

The conversations started small at first, Mike finding himself reluctant to reveal too much though as the weeks, and months progressed and a slip up of a _certain four letter word_ in regards to a discussion about his parents (which did not go unnoticed by Robin), Mike began to wonder why he was reluctant to open up to her in the first place.

So naturally, after a multitude of hushed conversations with Robin that seemed to die down _oh so_ _mysteriously_ whenever Steve came within earshot, it was only a matter of time before he found out everything about Mike.

“He’s just as much _my_ friend as he is Lucas and Dustin’s. Not even letting Will call me to say that he and El arrived safe, that’s _bullshit”_

“I think you’re being a little over the top here Wheeler” Robin leans against the counter, pencil in hand, a smirk on her face “They just want to spend some time with him-“

“And, I can’t even meet up with El because Max and El are having _girl time_ . So, what? I can’t see _any_ of my friends this week?”

“Yeah ok, it’s unfair, whatever- some of us have a _job_ to do,” Steve interrupts from the Action/Adventure section of the store, placing the VHS cases on the shelf “Besides, Henderson came in the other night shouting about you all going to the lake on Friday, and then your cabin trip on Saturday ”

“Well, yeah but that’s not the point. The point _is_ that I don’t know why I’m being punished”

“Punished is a _strong_ word, my friend” Robin interjects, gesturing with her pencil 

“Punished is the _right_ word” Mike mutters, leaning his back against the counter, absentmindedly playing with Steve’s makeshift Tip sign reading _‘HERE’S A TIP: GIVE US SOME’_ “I understand. _Kinda_ . They don’t see him as much as I do, I mean, I get frustrated because when I do see him it’s not for very long. But can they _really_ say that cutting me out is the right thing?”

“You know what you need to do?” Steve clicks the fingers of his freehand at him from across the shop, “Make a _grand gesture_.”

Mike frowns, “A _grand gesture_ ? I don’t need to make any kind of _gesture_ . Were you even listening? I’ve got the guy, it’s the friends that are the problem, and besides, I’m definitely not taking advice on that sort of thing from _you_ ”

“Oh, he has _got_ you there, _video boy”_ Robin clicks her tongue, tapping Mike’s shoulder with her pencil a couple of times and Mike finds her can’t help but smile

“ _Video boy-_ what are you-” Steve mutters before changing his position arms on hips, “This team up?” He vaguely gestures between Mike and Robin before continuing, “ _Not_ a fan” 

A customer walks in, breaking up the conversation and Mike busies himself in the Sci-Fi section- as Robin had pointed out on his last visit, his, _apparent, ‘go to’_ . Ever since Steve had found out, he’d been trying _in his own way_ to give him advice, though most of it, Mike thought, entirely irrelevant. He picks up a VHS case, _‘The Fly_ ’. 

_Well if that doesn’t bring up memories_ he thinks, remembering back to that day last Christmas- the day they were dealing with the aftermath of Hopper being found alive _,_ Will’s _ill-fated_ date, the argument that evening. But he also remembers their talk on the Byers’ couch where he very much told Will how he felt about him without saying those words.

> _“You’re glowing and you’re radiant and you’re you. You’re so you, Will Byers”_

He cringes for a moment, placing the VHS case against his forehead and screwing his eyes together. It’s not what he said, it’s something he definitely still thinks more and more by the day, but more the situation he said it in. But he supposes if anything could be considered a _grand gesture_ it would probably be that.

 _Why do I even care about Steve Harrington’s advice anyway?_ He thinks as he places the case back on the shelf, looking over his shoulder to see if the customer had left yet. _No._ He walks a little further along the selection, now selecting _Invaders from Mars,_ immediately turning the case over to look at the back. Alien spacecraft, invasions, mind control, Mike considers just for a moment that really, none of this seems overly far-fetched anymore. 

The subject of the film is a young boy. _Definitely not far-fetched then._

_A grand gesture might not be the worst idea_ he can’t believe he considers _Might make them realise what crap this ‘friends only’ rule is._

_Or do the complete opposite._

He realises he was right; Steve’s plan was ridiculous after all.

Mike hears a _“Thanks for stopping by!”_ before the familiar chime of the _Family Video_ doorbell sounds as the door opens and closes once again.

“ _Finally_ , thought he’d never leave” Steve groans as Mike places the case down, turning back to face them both, “You know, this is the fourth time he’s been in this week? Always after the same crappy _Star Wars_ knock off.”

“ _Star Trek_ isn’t a _Star Wars_ knock off, dingus” Robin throws a screwed up receipt at his head, which he catches before it can hit. 

“Well, it _could_ be”

“It _definitely_ couldn’t”

And Mike snorts, making his way back to the counter where Robin was now sorting the cash register. He hadn’t put much thought into it before but seeing Steve and Robin together like this, he was really glad they had each other. They balanced each other so completely that sometimes he felt a little like an intruder into a group they’d invited him in themselves.

But he supposed, at least these friends wouldn’t _cut him off_ for some stupid _‘friends only_ ’ rule.

“It’s true though, right?” Mike says again, watching through the glass as the customer gets into their car. 

“That _Star Trek_ couldn’t be a-”

“What? _No-_ no. It’s true that cutting me out is such _bull-”_

“Really? This again?” Steve mutters, running a hand down his face, “You’re _going_ to the lake and cabin with them. That’s not being cut out in my book” Steve adds again, picking up the crate of VHS tapes and moving along to the next aisle.

“ _Ok,_ yeah I _get_ it I’m being dramatic” Mike crosses his arms with a huff “All I’m saying is, as a Party, we stick together, and that includes allowing members of said Party to spend time with their boyfriend.” he pauses for a moment before adding “Or _girlfriend, actually._ You know, I don’t complain when Lucas and Max want to spend time alone-”

“Yeah, see, I got you there i’m afraid. You came in last Saturday complaining about the fact that Lucas gets a free house for the night and he’s _conveniently_ busy” 

Mike was ever more starting to regret letting Steve in on _The_ _Know._

He hadn’t actually decided if he’d wanted to tell Steve or not when he’d found out. Mike had come to visit Robin at work yet again - _maybe we should hang out outside of Family Video, one day,_ he thinks - and Steve had finally caved and wanted to know what their _‘secret chats_ ’ were about. He’d assumed, at first, Mike was coming to ask Robin about _girl_ advice, to which he and Robin had burst out laughing, causing Steve to frown and demand to know why then it was that Mike kept disrupting their shifts.

Mike and Robin had shared a look, and he’d given her a small nod.

_“Steve” She’d said “Think about it”_ _  
_

_“Think about_ what? _”_

 _“Why would Mike, come to_ me _, of all people, for advice”_

_His eyes widened “Are you-?” he trailed off, gesturing at Mike_

_“Kind of? I still like girls, too. But yeah” He’d paused “Will is my boyfriend now”_

_“Byers?”_

_Mike nodded_

_“Oh” Steve had said “Definitely not a girl, then”_ _  
_

_“_ _Definitely not” Mike had agreed_

_“What is it with you Wheeler’s wanting to date the Byers? Is there something in the water at your house? Other families exist you know”_

Mike had rolled his eyes, Steve had gone back to stacking shelves, and every time Mike had visited since, he’d offered some piece of ridiculous advice.

“What’s your point?” Mike frowns at him

“My point is you can’t complain about being put _on the bench_ when you don’t like it yourself”

“ _What?_ ”

“Ok, look” Robin interjects “As much as I _hate_ to agree with _high school analogies_ over here,” ( _“What does that even_ mean?” _Steve murmurs_ ) “Let them have their moment. You’re going there for three weeks on Sunday, right?”

“Three weeks?” Steve sets out the case in his hand before walking back to the counter “How did you even score that?”

“Mom and Dad don’t _exactly_ know the purpose of the trip. Just as they have no idea that Will and El are here in Hawkins this week”

“Sneaking around and lying to the parents, _nice”_

“We’re not _sneaking._ Not exactly. Mrs Byers knows what’s going on- well, she does _now_ anyway.” 

“Oh ok, so it’s just the _sneaking around_ then _”_ Steve mocks, picking up an elastic band that was laying on the counter and flicking it at Mike. He sees it coming and dodges it with a _“Ha!”._

_Really regretting letting him in on The Know._

“Hey Mike, while you’re here, want to help me count the stock we have in back? Anything to make the shift go by quicker” Robin asks, popping herself on the top of the counter so she could swing her legs over to the other side. She jumps off, and walks backwards towards the store room, waiting on an answer from Mike.

Mike shrugs, “Sure, I’ve got nothing else to do today” and he follows her in.

They’re quiet for a little while, the only words spoken between them being film names, numbers and _‘pass me the stock gun?’_

However, it’s when she reaches up to one of the higher shelves, to pull down the box of promo cards for the next big release that Mike notices something on her wrist.

“Where did you get that?”

“Going to need to be a bit clearer with the _that,_ my friend”

“Your bracelet,” he points down to her wrist, “I like it”

“Yeah?” She gives him a curious look “You want one?”

“ _No-_ Well, not a bracelet, but maybe _something._ Two, _somethings”_

“You’re going to have to be a bit more specific than that”

“I don’t know” he shrugs “Where did you even get it?”

“Near Indianapolis. I can give you the name of the store-”

“ _No_. No” He’s quick to tell her. Just the thought of going there and buying something _himself_ already making him panic “Could you get it for me?”

“You still haven’t told me what it is”

“What do they have?” 

She sits on a nearby stool, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. “It’s really cool in the city. I mean it’s not perfect, far from it, actually, but it’s better than _here_ . There’s a small shop I found, just with little tokens and trinkets. The owner is older and a lesbian, and she was really cool with answering some questions. She says that despite the laws, and attitudes of people, things _are_ getting better slowly. She gave me this bracelet free of charge; said it was nice to see part of the younger generation being proud to be who they are. She had badges, and shoelaces, patches, even t-shirts, if you can believe it. The flag was everywhere. It felt nice”

“It sounds _amazing”_

“Maybe we could go together sometime? When you’re ready to, that is” she reassures him

“Maybe” he agrees “But for now, do you think you could pick up two of those badges for me?” 

“Two pride badges coming up” she grins “Luckily for you, I’m heading up to the city in a few days with my mom. She wants to have a _‘girls shopping day’_ ” she rolls her eyes 

“Thanks” he says, smiling back, pulling down the box he had distracted Robin from retrieving earlier _(“You know you’re not getting paid for doing this, right?” She jests)_

They’re quiet again for a moment, Mike thinking over Robin’s words, one particular point being his focus. He glances over to her, a few times before finally asking.

“The lady in the shop, you said she was cool with answering questions right? Could you ask- or would she know, if there’s anything that represents me, I mean? You know, liking boys and girls”

She smiles at him, and it’s so sincere it takes him off guard. She pats her knees before standing up from the stool.

“Sure thing”

He grins.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! You can follow us both on tumblr [@mayfixlds](https://mayfixlds.tumblr.com/) [@okwillthewise](https://okwillthewise.tumblr.com/)


	6. Gonna give you all my love, boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ok, I think we’re all missing the most important thing here.” Lucas cuts in, standing just in front of Dustin, as if to break up the inevitable incoming argument. “Are we just going to ignore Casanova over here with the ‘Hey you’?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's here- as we've said before, this serves as a second part for Chapter 5, so it can be read straight through if you need a little catch up.  
> It's a long one, but there some plot strings that we're starting to get into here so it may be best to keep an eye out...  
> We hope you enjoy!

**Monday 22nd June 1987. Hawkins, Indiana.**

Will and Lucas had left for the arcade a couple of hours after he’d arrived. Mike had been - understandably - annoyed with Lucas’ _‘friends only’_ plan, and had spent a good ten minutes cursing him out (with Will shouting his agreement, to let Mike know he definitely was not in on this) and by the time they’d hung up - or rather, Lucas turned off the walkie - Mrs. Sinclair called them for a late lunch.

So it was only now, a little after 4pm, that they finally pull up outside the arcade, Will borrowing Lucas’ old bike for the week as means of a quicker way to get around Hawkins.

Will is just getting off the bike when he hears a door chime and a familiar voice say _‘See you guys, later’_

He looks up to see his boyfriend step out of the _Family Video_ entrance. He smiles and Lucas looks at him, frowning “Will, what are you-? Oh _great_ ” he mutters, when he finally notices Mike across the way. On hearing Lucas’ voice, Mike turns to face them both.

“Oh, look. It’s two people that _apparently_ I’m not friends with” Mike calls out, folding his arms across his chest. Lucas rolls his eyes, placing his bike on the bike rack outside of _The Palace._

“Mike, come on-”

“Come on? _Come on?_ I don’t know Lucas, it would just have been nice to have had a warning that over 10 years of friendship meant nothing”

“That’s dramatic” Lucas mutters just so Will can hear him. He rolls his eyes, thinking that maybe he agrees with Mike instead.

Lucas finishes up locking his bike, Will not far behind, and they make a move to stand near Mike, who still hadn’t moved from his position outside _Family Video._ Will looks past Mike for a moment to see Steve and Robin, though still working, paying a little too close attention to what was going on outside. He gives an awkward wave, they wave back, and then he pulls his focus back to his friends

“What are you even doing here? _”_ Lucas asks with a sigh

“Just hanging out with my _real_ friends. Is that ok with you or also _against the rules_?” he turns to look specifically at Will, then, and his tone changes completely when he smiles and says “Hi, Will”

Will grins back “Hi, Mike”

“See, this is what I mean, you’re just _coupley-”_

“You’re _making_ it _coupley”_ Mike retorts “I said ‘ _Hi, Will’._ I didn’t realise greeting someone was romantic”

“It’s the _way_ you said it-”

“I call _bull_ on that. Where is this even coming from? None of you had a problem with spending time with me and El”

_I guess that’s what Lucas meant on the phone when he said Mike_ talks

There’s not many people out and about at this time of day but Will is still surprised Mike didn’t look around before he spoke. Of _course_ it makes him happy but he’s also aware that Hawkins isn’t the most progressive of places- it only takes one person to have a problem with this, with _them,_ and so much becomes at risk.

“ _Will_ did.” Lucas responds, pulling Will out of his thoughts.

“Please don’t get me involved.” he murmurs, glancing at Lucas before looking down at the ground

“We know _why_ Will had a problem with that-” he gives Will a reassuring glance “So unless you or Dustin have some _feelings_ to confess, I don’t see what the problem is”

He also didn’t see what the problem was, not really. Lucas’ explanation hadn’t exactly been the most logical if Will was being honest; they _were_ all friends, still _are_ all friends, regardless as to whether some of those friends were a _little bit more._ But, he also understood his point. Since New Year, he and Mike did hang out more than the whole of The Party did together. Sure, Mike saw them at school, but Will (and El by default) didn’t really see Lucas and Dustin unless they were in Hawkins for an extended stay which didn’t happen too often. 

He just wasn’t sure if _this_ was the right way about doing it.

“Mike, I’m not saying you can’t hang out with us, we just want to spend some time with Will, we _never_ really get to see him” Lucas tries to reason

“Ok, so I can hang out with you when Will isn’t there? That's _you_ out for the week then. Max and El are also having _girl time,_ so can I see Dustin? Do I have your permission?”

“ _Come on_ , man we don’t mean it like that”

“Once again, I am not included in the _we”_ Will reiterates

“Ok, Lucas, does that mean I can come to the arcade with you right now?”

 _“_ _Yes”_ Will says before he can stop himself, but he means it. Even though he talks to Mike most evenings on the phone, it’s never the same as actually seeing him and with all the _excitement_ of the day, and Lucas’ _plan_ , he’d resigned himself to having to wait a few more days. But now Mike was here, in front of him, he realises just how much he had missed him, and how much he doesn’t want him to leave. 

“Well-”

“ _Got it_ . Might see you on Friday then, unless I find out I’m not _allowed_ at the lake either” Mike walks over to where his bike was locked up and begins to unchain it. Lucas rolls his eyes in exasperation before saying “Of course you’re allowed at the lake” 

Once his bike is free, he walks it so he is standing directly in front of Will. Paying Lucas no mind, and he reaches out to give Will’s hand a quick squeeze, before dropping it soon after. 

“I’ve missed you” he says softly, his tone completely changes from how it was before “I’m looking forward to the end of this week” 

Will smiles “And three weeks after that”

“And three weeks after that” Mike agrees, grinning back. The softness in his face and tone remain there for a little longer, but when he glances back at Lucas, it switches to how it was before “I would say I’d talk to you later but apparently that’s not allowed. I’ll see you soon, Will” he says and with that, he gives one last glare at Lucas, and one more smile at Will before he gets onto his bike and starts to peddle away. Will calls out a goodbye, before turning back to Lucas who has a look on his face that Will can’t quite figure out. 

“Dude” he starts “What’s wrong?”

“What? Oh. Nothing” Lucas sighs, staring as Mike rides away “Ok, come on, let’s go get some new highscores”

  
  


“You should’ve let him stay” Will says, as they make their way into the arcade

“That would’ve gone against my entire point”

“You can’t just blow him off though, Lucas” Will frowns “He’s our friend-”

“He’s not _just_ your friend” Lucas says as he heads over to _Dig Dug._ He starts putting in quarters and the machine comes to life.

“Yes, but we _are_ friends. It’s not as though we’re going to make out in front of you all every time we hang out, besides, we don’t complain about you and Max”

“Me and Max are different. It’s different-” Will opens his mouth to argue, but Lucas holds his hand up to stop him from interrupting “I just mean, we don’t have as many _restrictions_ as you do _”_

Will frowns “Thanks Lucas. I’ve only been here a couple of hours and I’m feeling so welcome already”

“I didn’t mean it like _that._ It’s just- I still mean what I said on the phone, you saw what he was like out there”

“Yeah, we do still need to be careful, but if he feels comfortable, that’s great. He’s not doing anything I don’t like- nothing that I wouldn’t think of doing”

“I just _worry.”_ Lucas sighs, “A nd look, I know the _friends only_ rule seems a bit extreme but before the girls got here, it was always just _us four_ . That’s changed now, and it’s not just that you’re both in relationships, it’s that you’re in a relationship with _each other._ It’s different” Lucas frantically moves the joystick left and right, finding himself in an awkward position in game. He presses at the button as the enemies draw closer and curses as he’s caught. He adds another quarter, before starting again

“Why didn’t you say any of this before? - _quick, turn left -_ It seemed like you were all trying to get us together, and I know that Mike has asked you multiple times if you’re ok with it”

“We are ok with it. We _are_ happy for you. Really we are. And we can see how happy you both are, too. It’s just-your relationship is quite _serious_ and I guess it was a little unexpected”

_And you don’t think you and Max are?_ Will rolls his eyes

“Thanks for the vote of confidence” he replies dryly “Were you all hoping we’d break up after a month?”

“ _No._ Of course not. It’s just, I’ve known you both since we were six and now you’re all in love and it’s _weird”_ he sighs 

“Weird.”

His tone makes Lucas look away from the machine and he dies yet again. This time he steps aside, gesturing at the console so Will can have a turn. It’s when Will doesn’t move that Lucas speaks again.

“Not like _that._ It’s just been a big change”

“Well sorry my relationship makes you so uncomfortable” Will mutters, finally putting a quarter into the machine. The game starts up once again and Will grabs the joystick, moving his character around the screen

“Will, I’ve said it _doesn’t-_ I’ve already explained. Look, we genuinely just wanted to spend time with you. We miss spending time with Will and Mike- our friends, rather than Will and Mike- _The Couple_ ”

“But you’re _not_ spending time with _our friends_ because one of them isn’t allowed to be here”

"Ok" Lucas sighs “Maybe I came across a little strong”

“Maybe?” Will raises an eyebrow

“Ok. I’m sorry for acting like such a douchebag. I’ll apologise to Mike, too” he pauses “I still want friend time, though”

“Fine” Will sighs, watching as his character is caught. He points out that he got a higher score than Lucas, receiving an eye roll in response. “Come on” he adds “ _Space Ace_ is free. Let’s see if I can score higher than you on that one, too”

* * *

“Well, look who _finally_ decided to show up”

Dustin greets them at his front door, arms tightly crossed, dish cloth in hand, and Will can’t help but think he may be emulating Steve Harrington a _little_ too much.

“What took you guys so long? 5:30pm you said you’d be here, _5:30pm._ It’s now _6:15pm._ Anything could have happened”

“Dustin. _Chill-”_

“ _And_ I tried to call Mike with a _Code Red_ only to have him tell me, and I quote, ‘ _leave me alone I’m busy’_ in return so no, _Lucas,_ I will not chill”

Lucas rolls his eyes “Dude, just let us in already. You’ve been moaning about how it’s unfair that Will gets to stay with me for the week, instead of you. You’re losing your own precious _Will Time_ here.”

With a _huff,_ he moves out of the way, outstretching his hand giving them access into the house. It had been a while since he’d been to the Henderson household, The Party hang outs, at least since his departure from Hawkins, were largely isolated to Mike’s basement and the new addition of _Family Video_ so being here, in Dustin’s home was a pleasant change. He’d missed it here, Claudia Henderson’s eccentric style bursting with personality- nothing matched, the patterns displayed on the walls clashed with the furniture, but it felt _right._

Dustin leads them to his room, promptly shooing Tews off of his bed and shutting the door as the cat leaves.

“Gentlemen” he gestures for them to sit, taking a seat at his desk whilst Lucas and Will head for his bed “I _was_ going to suggest that we go to _The Hawk_ and catch a movie but since you’ve kept me waiting _forever-”_

“We were _forty five_ _minutes_ late-“

“It’s the _principle_ of things” Dustin interrupts Lucas, gesturing as he speaks “Anyway, happy to hang out here William? I can promise a fun evening of comics and _NES-_ I’ve got _Mario_?”

“I can hang out here” Will smiles, shrugging his shoulders 

They play for a while, with small disagreements about who was Player One and Player Two and who would watch for the round, both Will and Lucas dreading when it was Dustin’s turn to observe as his hints as to how to pass certain elements of the levels were _very_ unhelpful. 

It’s when the console is turned off and they’re sitting reading through the latest issue of _The Amazing Spiderman_ Dustin has _apparently_ picked up _‘Just for Will’s visit’_ that Will finds himself a little more subdued, the distraction of the game no longer there to mute his thoughts. Lucas’ words in the arcade were playing on his mind, as well as their interaction with Mike outside of _Family Video - not to mention Lucas’ face as Mike rode away._

So it’s when Dustin asks if anyone wants a drink that Will finally says

“Are you _all_ uncomfortable?”

Lucas and Dustin look at one another before looking back to Will

“I mean, I am _pretty_ thirsty. That’s why I asked if-”

“No, not with that. Are you all uncomfortable with me and Mike?”

“Will, I told you-”

“I want you to be honest with me. Does it make you uncomfortable?”

“Not uncomfortable, per se-” Dustin starts “Just-” Lucas nudges him in the ribs

“Uncomfortable” Will finishes for him

“No, I didn’t _say_ that. It’s more - Lucas help me out here?”

“I’ve already said my bit and I said I’ll apologise to Mike. He was _not_ happy when we saw him at _Family Video_ , man”

“What was he doing at _Family Video?”_ On Will’s glare, Dustin holds his hands up in defense “Ok, _not_ the point. The point _is_ that we’re not uncomfortable. We just have concerns for the both of you. Your welfare. Keeping your private lives, _private-_ ”

“Do you and Lucas just spend all your time conspiring against us then?-” 

“ _Ok.”_ Lucas interjects “It’s like I said at the arcade, it’s not that we thought you’d break up, it’s just that you’ve gotten so serious so fast. The way Mike talks about you, the way you talk about him, and the way you are when you’re together, it’s so different to how you were before. It’s even different to how Mike was with El- I don’t think he was ever _this_ serious about her and they were together _two years”_ he pauses, thinking over his next words “It’s just different. When we were kids I never would’ve thought you two would be together. It’s taking some getting used to - seeing you as a couple rather than just our friends”

“We _are_ your friends. That comes first, always” Will reassures him “We’ve never wanted that to change- at least not intentionally”

“I dunno Will, not sure I needed to be told, on Valentine’s Day, that you’re _hotter than Phoebe Cates”_ Dustin adds, giving a theatrical shudder.

 _“Really?_ Did he _really_ say that? _”_ Will asks, feeling his face flush. The thought causes a warm feeling to settle in his chest.

“ _This,_ right here, this? _This_ is what I mean”

“Well how do you expect me to react? He’s my _boyfriend.”_

“And that’s _cool_ . It _is_ ” Lucas reassures, patting Will on the shoulder

“Ok,” Will sighs, “But no more stupid rules, _and_ you need to apologise to Mike”

“Deal” Lucas agrees, giving Dustin a look when he doesn’t immediately respond

“Fine. Deal” Dustin concedes, holding out his hand for Will to shake. Will lets out a small laugh before taking his hand and shaking it mockingly

“Can we talk about something else now?” Will asks “Like how I’m clearly the superior player when it comes to _Mario_ ”

“You didn’t score _much_ higher than us” Dustin scoffs

“Oh, care for a rematch, then?” Will asks, eyebrow raised “The one who survives the longest gets an ice cream bought for them at the lake”

“You’re on, Byers”

* * *

**Thursday 25th June 1987. Hawkins, Indiana.**

It’s his third night in Hawkins when he wakes with gasp. He’d been lucky to avoid a nightmare so far this week, but it seemed his luck had finally run out. His first thought is to check himself, grounding him back into reality. He taps at his face, then his arms, then takes a deep breath and exhales.

His next thought is to make sure he didn’t owe the Sinclair family any money for a new lightbulb. He looks up at the ceiling, _nothing smashed,_ before looking to Lucas’ table lamp, _nothing broken there,_ either. As he glances toward the table, he notices the clock showing 4:22am. 

He takes another breath, exhales, and pushes himself out of the camp bed. His blankets were starting to make him feel claustrophobic and he felt like he needed to _get out_. He grabs his backpack, carefully exiting the room, making sure not to wake Lucas as he slowly closes the door. He makes his way to the living room and once there, immediately rummages through his backpack to find his walkie talkie. For a moment, he debates calling El- she _had_ been annoying him about what was going on for a while now, maybe this was the time to finally come clean. He also wouldn’t be surprised if she had some semblance of an idea as to what was going on.

_After all, creepy sibling connection._

But did he really want to deal with that right now? He didn’t want to cause unnecessary panic - though this certainly felt far from unnecessary at this point - especially being back in Hawkins. El would also want to tell his dad, who would of course tell his mom and the thought of this being escalated further before they’d tried to deal with this themselves, wasn’t something he wanted to do. 

And there was no way that Max would let her come over to Lucas’ on her own.

So really, there was only one option, and one that, if Will was being honest, was the option he was _always_ going to choose. He tunes into the channel, holds down the button, and hopes for a response.

“Mike, are you there? Over” Will whispers with a shaky voice. He lets go of the button on the walkie, and paces around the Sinclair’s living room as he waits for Mike’s reply. When he doesn’t receive one within five minutes, he tries again, voice a little louder this time “Mike? Are you there?” 

He hears a groggy “Will? Is that you? Are you ok?” from the other end and he sighs with relief. He presses the button so he can speak again and lets out a “Can we talk?” 

He hears muffled shuffling before a “Sure, what do you want to talk about?” 

“No. Can we _talk?_ Meet me in Lucas’ backyard?”

There’s a brief pause before “Give me five minutes” and the walkie clicks off.

A few moments later, after shrugging on his jacket and shoes, Will finds himself pacing on the Sinclair’s back porch. He can hear cicadas, and the birds twittering in the trees. The sun is coming up and light is slowly creeping in over the grass and despite the early morning breeze, Will can tell it’s going to be another warm day. He feels a little better already, being in the fresh air, but he knows he’s not going to feel completely right until “Will?”

Mike’s voice comes from behind him. Will stops his pacing, and turns to face Mike. He doesn’t move from where he is standing and Mike quickly walks over to him, and places his hands on either side of Will’s face.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” 

  
And Will _breaks_ under the weight of the dream.

He falls into Mike’s arms, wrapping his own around his neck. He nestles his face into his shoulder, and Mike slowly brings his arms around Will’s waist.

“Hey” he soothes “What’s going on?”

He doesn’t answer, pulling Mike in closer, allowing himself a selfish moment of self-indulgence. He exhales, grounding himself; feeling the breeze on his face, the slightly scratching feeling of Mike’s sweater, the arms at his waist. He finally pulls away 

“I had another one- I should have told you at Spring Break what they were about but-”

“Hey, _no_ , you didn’t have to tell me anything-”

“They’ve been about the Mind Flayer” 

“Oh.”

“But it was different, this time. He was in Benton. It’s like he found me” he keeps his voice quiet, as if the Mind Flayer was listening in. 

Mike hears him, though, and his eyes widen, expression disconcerted. He looks like he’s searching for the right thing to say, but before he can speak again they hear a voice from the back door.

“Look, I know I said I was sorry but I draw the line at you using my backyard as a hookup spot”

“Not the time” Mike hisses, but he doesn’t move either of them from their position.

Lucas holds up his hands in surrender “I know, but you two owe me an explanation”

“We don’t owe you sh-”

Will stops him before he can continue “Mike, it’s ok” he reassures, before shifting so he can see Lucas “I had a nightmare”

“And that was cause for Mike to break into my backyard at 5am?”

He and Mike exchange a look before Mike sighs stating “You might want to sit down”

* * *

“So wait,” Lucas says, he’d stood up from the Sinclair’s garden bench midway through Will’s explanation, and had been pacing ever since “How long has this been happening?” 

“The dreams? A few months. Dreams like this? Last night.” Will pauses for a moment, absent mindedness tapping against his thighs “They’re more of a _feeling,_ kind of like in Summer. Like a memory-”

“A memory?” Lucas questions with a frown, “So, they’re just things you’ve seen before?”

“Yeah, well apart from last night. I’m _always_ in Hawkins, never at home in Illinois, so I don’t understand _why”_ Will rests his head against his hands, closing his eyes for a moment.

“Does El know? If something’s up I mean. She hasn’t said anything?”

“I’m not sure, to be honest, I’ve been trying to block her out most of the time” he looks back up at Lucas. “I know it was wrong, but until last night I didn’t think she really needed to know-”

“Maybe we should call her” Mike overlaps, “What you feel she feels, right? So she’d know then, if something is trying to find a way in again.”

“I don’t think anything is trying to get back through” Will gives Mike a curious look, “I don’t feel anything when I’m awake. I haven’t really for two years- well apart from El’s feelings but that’s different, it feels different. It’s only when I’m asleep”

“Like Freddie Krueger” Lucas clicks his fingers at them

“What? Lucas, this is nothing like Freddie Krueger. This isn’t some Wes Craven horror movie” Mike frowns, crossing his arms against his chest

“It _sounds_ like Freddie Krueger. What would the Mind Flayer gain through going through Will’s dreams? _Nothing._ You said you’re not feeling it when you’re awake right?”

Will shakes his head, frowning. 

“So it’s probably just a dream. My dad gets them from his time back in ‘nam, and that’s _years_ later. This is probably like that.”

“You weren’t _there_ Lucas. When I was with Will for Spring Break, the lights were going crazy, his light bulb _burst_ ”

“ _Again,_ could still be like my dad’s. Will’s... _powers_ whatever, are at least a little linked with how he’s feeling right? So it makes sense that if his dream is taking him back _there_ , emotions are going to be higher right?”

Will isn’t convinced but he doesn’t voice it. His emotions during, and after, the nightmares are so strong, he can’t bring himself to believe the answer is that simple. Lucas, clearly noticing the frown on his face, continues.

“Look, it’s 5am- we can’t do anything now. El is _definitely_ still asleep so we can’t talk to her until later and the lack of sleep can’t be helping you much either. Let’s just go back inside, make some coffee and just _relax”_

_I don’t think the coffee is going to help with the lack of sleep._

But, he supposes Lucas is right. They _can’t_ do anything now and he wouldn’t know what to do even if they could. So, with a nod, he stands from the bench. 

It’s when Mike stands to follow them into the house that Lucas asks “Dude, what are you doing?”

“Coming inside for coffee?” Mike replies, but his tone makes it sound like a question

“No. I meant me and Will. _You_ need to go home”

“Oh don’t start _this_ again” Mike rolls his eyes “Besides, I’m not leaving him, not when he’s like this. I wouldn’t leave _you_ if you were like that” 

“If my parents wake up and find you in the house, they’re going to want answers that we can’t give them”

“He has a point” Will adds 

“Will-” 

He takes hold of Mike’s hands, giving them a squeeze “I’ll be ok” he reassures him “Aren’t you supposed to be babysitting Holly today anyway?”

“I can bring her along, I’ll find a way to keep her quiet”

“Doesn’t sound _great”_ Lucas mutters, causing Will to snort

“That’s a big risk, Mike”

“I’d do it if you need me. If you need me today, I’ll go home and tell them right now”

He squeezes Mike’s hands again “We’ve spoken about this. Not until you’re ready, and not a moment before” 

Mike squeezes back “Are you _sure?_ ”

“Positive” and he leans up to give Mike a quick peck, ignoring Lucas’ groan

“Now, you better get home before your parents wake up and find you missing”

Mike is the one who kisses Will quickly this time, before letting go of his hands and stepping away “You’ll tell me if you need anything today?”

“Yes” Will smiles “But I promise I’ll be fine”

_Besides, there’s something I want to do alone today._

* * *

“Wow.” he mutters to himself

He’s kneeling on the ground, He didn’t expect to see much left, it _had_ been two years after all, but Will supposed that what was strange was he hadn’t expected to see so little of it. Nobody had ever really passed through _Mirkwood_ anyway, but he felt a sense of discomfort that anyone wandering through the forest would have no idea that this area once served as a place of comfort, his safe space.

_I guess I really did a good job with this one._

He feels at the ground and moves around the twigs that gave some semblance of the structure that had once proudly stood in the space. 

_It really is gone._

  
  


He hears a rustling of leaves from behind him and he _freezes_ , thinking back to the last time he was here- what he _felt_ the last time he was here. Hesitantly, he turns round, seeing Lucas, bike in hand, wearing a concerned expression. He places his bike against a nearby tree and walks over to Will, kneeling beside him in the dirt. “We tried to save little parts of it after you left. I- well, Mike and Dustin were with me too- came here to see if there was anything that we could give you but-”

“It was just wood. Wood and twigs, that’s all it ever was”

“Hey, _no._ ” He feels an arm around his shoulder, and turns to see Lucas frowning at his words, “It _meant_ something to you, man. That doesn’t sound like _just wood and twigs_ to me” 

He turns his attention back to the ground as Lucas squeezes his shoulder, picking up a nearby stick and using it to move some of the sodden leaves near what once was the entrance.

 _“Radagast”_ he absent mindlessly mutters drawing a line in the mud. He can feel Lucas staring at him and feels a little self conscious, shaking him off “It’s stupid” He throws the stick away, “I don’t know what I wanted really. It’s just _weird”_

“It’s not stupid-”

“ _Yes._ It is. It is _stupid._ Wanting closure for myself for something _I_ did two years ago and yet i’m here, wondering about whether or not there’s bits of the photos I ripped up still buried underneath all of this” he gestures to the forest floor “And the stupidest thing of all is that despite all of that, despite the wondering about what's underneath all the dirt, despite that fact that people won’t know what happened here in our world _and_ The Upside Down, I _don’t_ regret tearing it down. Not anymore.”

He wipes his hands on his jeans before rubbing at his eyes, shaking his head, beginning to stand “I’m sorry. Let’s just go.”

“Will, there’s no rush.” Lucas replies “Really, you don’t need to apologise.”

“ _Two years._ So much has happened since I did it. I feel like there’s a strange kind of significance to that.” He faces Lucas, crossing his arms into his chest “Not even just that summer but everything. _Everything_ changed. Not just for me either, I don’t think any of us are who we were before”

“Are you saying that _Castle Byers_ is the reason that you moved to _Middle of Nowhere, Illinois”_

He pushes him with a snort “No, of course not I just mean- I don’t know, I think what I’m trying to say is maybe it _was_ time.”

“Will, if it was or wasn’t time we still shouldn’t have made you do that-”

“You didn’t _make_ me do anything. You and Mike didn’t come out here, hand me a baseball bat and say _‘tear it down’._ I decided to do that- sure, there was a _push_ but you didn’t do it.”

“Still man, I can’t speak for Mike but I know I still think about it”

He looks back one more time “I just- I just thought I’d feel _more”_

“It’s ok that you don’t. You know that, right? Feelings are weird. Sometimes they change because _we_ change, and that’s ok. It doesn’t mean it meant any less before”

And with that Lucas pulls him into a hug which Will reciprocates, wrapping his arms around Lucas’ shoulders.

“How did you know I was here?” Will mumbles into his shirt

“I just had a feeling. We were always able to find you here”

Will smiles.

* * *

**Friday 26th June 1987. Hawkins, Indiana.**

Despite the warm temperature and the events of the day before, Will found that sleep came easier last night. A nightmare hadn’t happened, to both his and Lucas’ delight, so both boys found themselves feeling refreshed when they woke up that morning.

“Thanks for not giving me the 5am wake up call this morning, man” Lucas had said, stretching before getting out of his bed

“It’s not like I pick and choose when they’re going to happen” Will frowned, nestling himself in his own covers on the camp bed a little further

Lucas walked over to where Will was situated, pulling off the comforter, “Come on, out. Let’s get breakfast. Places to go, people to see, some of which _really_ won’t be happy if we’re late.”

“And who’s fault would that be if he’s annoyed this morning after your _friends only plan_ \- which I still don’t understand because we are- _you are,_ friends.” Will said, pushing himself out of the camp bed, and making his way to his duffle bag

“I _was_ talking about Dustin since he moaned on Monday but sure.”

But now, they found themselves, beach towels in hand at the Sinclair’s front door, listening to Lucas’ mom remind them about ‘ _Lake Safety’_ and Will can’t help but feel it’s more directed at him after the events of 1983. He nods, Lucas nods and they both agree to ‘ _not swim out of their depth. Not on each other's watch.’_ With one final “ _Mom, we’ll be fine”_ from Lucas they open the front door and walk a little up the road, to a nearby birch tree and wait.

“I really don’t know why you and Mike didn’t just tell his mom you were staying here for the week” Lucas says, looking up the street

“Well, we thought she wouldn’t have let him come for three weeks if she knew I was here” Will shrugs

“I dunno Will, It just feels like you’ve both made this way more complicated than it needed to be”

He considers Lucas’ words for a moment, biting his lip “I guess. But we also really didn’t want to deal with the question of why Mike wanted to spend _four weeks_ with _me_ ” 

“And how do _you_ feel? About that, I mean?”

He bites at his cheek “It would be nice, not to hide. But not all parents are as cool as mine are. Even my dad- biological dad I mean, was _awful_ about people like us. He used to call me names all the time. I think if he and my mom were still together, I probably wouldn’t have come out, so I get it. I get why he hasn’t said anything, and I’m- I’m ok with that. I’m not going to rush him."

_And I really am_ , he thinks to himself. He knows that Mr and Mrs Wheeler are very _particular_ with their opinions, especially after what Mike had said he’d overheard his mom say back in April. Plus, Mike hadn’t even been out to himself for a year, and Will knows how much it was for _himself_ to process. Mike had the addition of having a girlfriend at the same time, and he knew it had been a huge mental struggle. He wonders sometimes if Mike is _still_ processing - not that it’s a problem if he is, but Will knows added pressure isn’t going to help. He only wants Mike to come out when he feels safe, comfortable and completely _sure._

He hears Lucas drop his bag to the floor and Will feels a reassuring pat on the shoulder, and he turns to him, giving him a smile.

“It must be hard. I’m sorry that none of us were there to support you. We can’t have helped much this week either”

“No, It’s ok. I had El- and Jonathan obviously. When I told you all on the phone, you were all really great too, so you were there for me. As for this week, I’ll just call it _a terrible mistake._ Think Mike might feel differently though”

Lucas rolls his eyes before turning more serious once again “Still though, it can’t be easy”

“No, but he’s worth it” 

Lucas wrinkles his nose _“Gross”_

Will laughs, nudging Lucas in the ribs “You can blame my soppy feelings on you. I miss him”

“You saw him _yesterday”_ Lucas rolls his eyes

“Whilst I was _panicking._ It wasn’t exactly _romantic”_

They laugh again and Will can’t help but feel that despite everything, it has been nice being with his friends this week. He’d missed this.

“What’s so funny?”

They turn back towards the cul-de-sac to see Mike standing with a frown on his face, carrying a towel under his arm and a swim bag on his right shoulder.

“You’re _late”_ Lucas states picks up his own bag and towel once again

“Well sorry that I have a seven year old sister to make breakfast for. Mom had an early aerobics class, _again._ ”

“Don’t you have a dad? _And_ a sister who could help?”

“Apparently not. Dad was too busy with the paper and Nancy had to get ready for work, so all down to _me_ . _Again”_

Mike sighs before his eyes flicker over towards Will, a smile spreading across his face. Will smiles too, mouthing a _‘hi’_ at his boyfriend. Mike’s smile grows.

Lucas doesn’t notice, still ranting about Mike’s sour attitude “You’re not going to be like this _all day_ are you?”

Still smiling, and not taking his eyes off Will, Mike says “Ah, I think I’ll be ok” 

_I really have missed him,_ Will thinks. He knows it’s ridiculous because Lucas _is_ right, he just saw him _yesterday_ , but he’s looking forward to getting to spend the whole day together, and tomorrow at the cabin, too. 

And then _three whole weeks._

“ _Ok, let’s go.”_ Lucas pulls at Mike’s arm, starting to walk down the street “Max and El are probably already at the lake and we _need_ to get there before Dustin after the way he reacted the other night”

* * *

“Why?” 

“Good morning to you too, El” Will rolls his eyes as the group walk over to a rather frustrated El, Max and Dustin. The lake looks relatively empty. Ever since the pool had been refurbished and reopened a few years ago, no one tended to visit the lakes and quarry in the summer anymore. It meant those that did, were awarded a fair amount of privacy. 

“Don’t blame us,” Lucas sighs, “ _Someone_ had brotherly duties to take care of-”

“Why are you saying that like I'm lying?” Mike mutters from beside Will. 

“Two days this week, Lucas. _Two. Days.”_ Dustin complains as they begin to walk towards the bank, looking for a shaded spot. “How do you think this makes me feel?”

“Neither times were _my fault”_

“Oh my God, can you two stop arguing like an old married couple for just _one day_ ?” Max asks them, rolling her eyes as she sets down her towel.”So, are you going to set your towel down next to mine or would you rather be with _Dustin?”_

“Shut up, Max” Dustin retorts, setting his own towel down in his own spot a little to the left of where Max was. El joins him, murmuring to Max about how she hadn’t caught up with him in a while. Max gives her a smile, before turning back to glare at Lucas expectedly. 

“Of course I’m going to sit with you” Lucas reassures Max, as he unrolls his towel. _Unnecessarily,_ Will thinks. He knows Max knew he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

“Oh, I’m sorry, what’s this?” Mike starts, gesturing between Lucas and Max, “I thought it was _friends only_ this week” 

“Mike is in _a mood”_ Lucas, mumbles to Max who smirks in return

“ _No._ No I’m not. I’m just making an observation. So come on Will, let’s go and put your towel down next to your old _friend_ Mike” and Mike takes hold of his hand leading him to the left of Dustin and El; a little further away from The Party.

“Sorry I had to babysit yesterday, I didn’t want to leave you like that”

“No, it’s ok. Besides, you know Lucas wouldn’t have let you join in even if you didn’t have to look after Holly”

“This _friends only_ thing was such _bullshit._ I just don’t get it. I’m friends with them just as much as you are. What did cutting me off actually do- apart from cause me to run off to _Family Video_ and get bad advice from _Steve Harrington?”_

Will reaches over and squeezes Mike’s hand “You listened to advice from _Steve?_ ”

“Nevermind” Mike says, a bit _too_ quickly, as he squeezes back “What did you do yesterday?” 

Will wonders how to breach the subject. It’s not that he didn’t want to talk to Mike about it, but he still felt _weird_ after his visit to Castle Byers - well, the twigs that remained. He hadn’t quite processed his own feelings, and he kind of wanted to make sense of them first. He knew Mike would want to talk, and he’d want to help, but he didn’t know if he was completely ready for that yet.

“I-” Will looks over to Mike, biting at his cheek, “I wanted some time on my own for a bit- and I _was_ on my own, until Lucas found me. There was something I needed to do-” He trails off 

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Really Will, it’s ok” 

Will hears Dustin groan, and he looks over to see him standing desperately trying to remove coke from his shirt, El still sitting next to an overflowing coke can, laughing. 

“He’s such a moron” Mike laughs from next to him, catching Will’s attention once more. As Will turns back to face him, he gives a small smile “Really, Will, It’s ok. We don’t have to talk about it. I can tell you all about my very exciting day of babysitting my seven year old sister, instead”

Will smiles slightly before taking a breath “I just-” He pauses “I just wanted to see it. _Castle Byers_. One more time.” 

“Oh”

There’s a pause, just for a moment as Mike shuffles a little closer

“How are you feeling?”

“ _Weird”_ Will sighs “ _Really_ weird”

“Was it too much, going back?”

“It was _nothing._ I felt _nothing”_ He sighs again, gesturing with his hands “That’s why I feel so weird”

He feels an arm snake around his shoulders, pulling him in a little closer

“Is this ok?” Mike asks

“You really don’t need to ask that”

“I know, but as your platonic friend for the week, I thought it was best to make sure” 

Will laughs, leaning in closer again and resting his head on Mike’s shoulder

“It’s ok, you know? Mike tells him “That it feels weird. It’s _bound_ to be. But you can take as much time as you need until it doesn’t” Mike gives his shoulder a reassuring squeeze “I’ll still be here, no matter how long that is”

He had known he probably had nothing to worry about by telling Mike, but nonetheless, he _had_ been nervous. He should’ve realised that Mike would allow him to take all of this at his own pace, and he feels so much more comfort at the thought. He wraps his arm across Mike, hugging into him. 

“Thank you” he murmurs. Mike rests his chin on the top of Will’s head. 

They’re both silent for a little while, content to enjoy each other’s company, and watch the water. It’s only when they hear commotion from their friends again, that Mike pulls away slightly and they both look to their left.

“So” Dustin shouts across to them all as he stands up from his towel. He reaches out a hand to help El up, too “Who’s up for a game of chicken?”  
  


* * *

The game of chicken is as successful as anyone could’ve expected, and that is that it _wasn’t_ . Max and Lucas had paired off immediately, as had Dustin and El ( _“El and Will cannot be on the same team, they’ll just cheat”_ ) leaving Mike and Will to negotiate who would be where 

“You should be on my shoulders” Mike had said, crouching down in the water

“Mike, we’re pretty much the same height” Will rolled his eyes

“I’m an inch taller so stop complaining and hurry up”

Lucas and Max had won in the end. El _had_ cheated, but everyone had caught on pretty quickly, and disqualified her and Dustin 

“I didn’t have anything to do with it” Dustin had protested 

“You told me to try and make Mike fall” El had argued, wiping at her bloody nose

“Traitor” He could only mumble in return

They’d taken the role of referee after their disqualification, and whilst Will and Mike had put up a good fight, Max was relentless and had eventually gotten the upper hand and had caused Will to fall. 

As Lucas and Max _continued_ to win, the amusement wore off pretty quickly so when El had suggested a game she had played in Swim class, The Party found themselves agreeing that maybe it was time to change the game.

And that was how Will found himself, in the middle of the lake, shivering ever so slightly, shouting _‘Polo’_ in response to Mike’s half hearted _‘Marco’_

“Come _on_ Mike, put some effort into it” Max shouts from near the bank

“I just don’t understand - _Marco -_ why _I’m_ the one that’s searching first?” 

He sees Dustin cross his arms, from across the lake as Mike uncomfortably tugs at his t-shirt turned blindfold.

“Because - _Polo -_ Will and El would find a way to cheat, again, _and_ you lost-” Dustin adds, leaning backwards, floating onto his back.

“ _You_ were _disqualified.”_

“You didn’t say _Marco - Polo”_

“Oh for god’s sake” Mike grumbles, wading through the water, getting closer to Dustin “ _Marco?_ ”

“ _Polo_ ” Will shouts again, followed by the rest of The Party. He notices the moment Mike realises he’s close to Dustin, but doesn’t miss how his head turns toward him after hearing his shout. Dustin pushes himself back onto his feet, a frown evident on his face before he looks over to Will who gives him a shrug and sheepish grin in return. 

And if Will allows himself to move a little closer to Mike, as he shouts _Marco_ once again, no-one mentions it.

“Mike, you’re missing the point of the game” Dustin groans

“You didn’t say _Polo”_

“Isn’t the point that he _doesn’t_ catch us anyway? - _Polo -”_ Will shuffles _just_ a little closer again, raising his voice and missing the look Dustin gives him as he does so.

It doesn’t take long for everyone, Will included, to catch on to the idea that Mike had absolutely no intentions of finding anyone else but Will during the game- Max taking herself back to the bank and sitting down, arms folded.

“ _And,_ there you are” Mike grins, taking a hold of the top of Will’s arm, finally catching him. But it’s _different_ , and it lingers, his fingers tapping ever so slightly on his arm, before Will notices Mike biting at his lip, as if contemplating what to do next.

“Mike? Are you ok?”

And then it _shifts_

“Got you” Mike murmurs, wrapping his arms low around Will’s waist, pulling him in closer.

Will’s eyes widen and he reaches up to lift the blindfold from Mike’s eyes, pushing it up onto his forehead. He opens his eyes, looking down into Will’s own. 

“Now, what would you have done if that wasn't me” Will retorts, eyebrow raised and a smile on his face “Not sure everyone else would’ve appreciated _this_ greeting” he aims for a casual tone, trying not to let anyone know how Mike’s actions were making him feel. They were relatively alone at the lake, but even then it was _rare_ that Mike engaged in _affection_ in public. Maybe Lucas was right, that it really _was_ starting to change. 

And he _likes_ it. 

He likes the relief of not worrying, of casual touches in public that _should_ be considered normal but that he knows aren’t by so many people. He hesitates for a moment before taking his hands away from the blindfold interlocking them at the back of Mike’s neck. Mike pulls him in closer again, until there is no space left between them. Neither of them look away from the other.

“As long as you do?” Mike asks, an eyebrow raised

Will nods, smiling at him 

“Then let’s not think about everyone else” Mike says softly, and with that he leans down, pressing his lips against Will’s.

Will freezes for a split second, instincts kicking in. _We’re in public, someone might see, Mike’s parents don’t know_ , but after the initial surprise, and realising Mike didn’t _want_ to let him go, he melts into the kiss. Any worries he’d had earlier in the day, that week, diminishing the more he becomes wrapped up in the moment, in _Mike._ Because right here, right now, they’re the _only_ two people and Will finds the thought _freeing._ For the first time in a while, his mind feels void of anything but joy and love but also, now there’s a _want._

Close isn’t close enough and he finds himself shifting in the water, his hands making their way up into Mike’s hair- and he feels Mike give a breathy laugh on their ascent. 

He hears noise, _maybe the water,_ but he’s too distracted to make out anything in particular.

And he finds he _doesn’t care._

It seems Mike doesn’t either, as he deepens the kiss, lifting Will’s feet slightly off of the silt and clay at the bottom of the lake, taking him slightly by surprise once again. After being interrupted by his dad during Spring Break, most of their kisses had been chaste. So this was still pretty new and yet, felt so familiar and he allows himself for one self-indulgent moment to consider that _this_ was made _just_ for him.

Mike pulls away briefly, though staying close

“Hey, you” he says, voice low “Is this ok?” 

And there _that_ is again. Shivering- but not because of the cold- Will stays silent, instead pulling Mike back down to meet his lips once more. 

He’s not sure how long they stay there, it could’ve been seconds, it could’ve been minutes, it could’ve been _hours,_ but all Will was aware of, all he was _sure_ of, was _Mike._

Until it all _literally_ comes crashing down as they’re both hit by a wave of water.

They jump apart, Will loses his footing on the clay before he finds Mike’s shoulders, steadying himself. They both turn toward The Party, who were now much nearer than they had realised- a series of expressions displayed on their faces, ranging from frustration to some degree of disgust- and see El wiping her nose with her hand. 

“What the hell was that for?” Mike splutters, pushing his hair out of his eyes

 _“What the hell was that for?”_ Lucas mimics in a childish voice “What do you think it was for, dipshit?” 

“When we decided on a day at the lake we didn’t realise we were signing up for a private show” Max says, rolling her eyes. She’d obviously swam back to them from the bank at some point.

“Why do you think Dad hates him?” El chimes in, nonchalant 

“ _This_ was none of your business” Mike stresses

“You made it our business when you did it in _front of us_ ” Dustin retorts

“No one asked you to _look,_ Dustin” 

“Oh come on, what’s wrong with you? _Anyone_ could have been around. _Anyone_ could have seen” Dustin continues on, gesturing with his hands

“Yeah but they _weren’t_ and they _didn’t”_ Will feels Mike wrap an arm around his waist, pulling him in close “There’s no one here but us”

“But they _could_ have Mike. That’s the point. I don’t _get_ you. You talk about secrecy, you keep Will and El’s week here a secret, and then you go and pull a stunt like that? Are you an _idiot?_ ”

Will feels Mike’s hand tense on his waist.

 _“Ok, I_ _think_ we’re all missing the most important thing here.” Lucas cuts in, standing just in front of Dustin, as if to break up the inevitable incoming argument. “Are we just going to ignore Casanova over here with the ‘ _Hey you’”_ and he wades a little closer to Max, waggling his eyebrows at her before turning back to Mike.

Mike flips him off. Lucas grins.

“Come on, _you”_ Max says, dramatically pointing at Lucas “Let’s go sunbathe. I don’t want to play games anymore, I need to try and get that image out of my head, instead”

And they make their way out of water, leaving both Will and Mike alone. There’s a look that he can’t quite decipher on Mike’s face as he watches their friends exit onto the bank, Dustin still groaning about _the scene_ to Lucas whilst Max, _thankfully_ he thinks, gently chides them to _“give it a rest already”_

“Hey,” Will pokes Mike in the arm, who turns to face him, frowning, “You ok?”

“First, _ouch,”_ Mike begins, rubbing at his shoulder _(“It didn’t hurt that much Mike.”)_ “But yeah, I’m ok. Just- you know what, it doesn’t matter. Race you back to the bank? Loser doesn’t get the window seat on the greyhound on Sunday?”

And Will already makes a start before shouting back, “You _really_ shouldn’t make bets on things you _know_ you’re going to lose”

* * *

Mike arrives home around six that evening after making a quick stop into _Family Video._ Robin had got back from her trip to the city yesterday and he knew she had a Friday night shift so he thought he’d swing by to pick up what he’d asked her to buy for him and Will. The store was busier than usual, being a Friday during summer vacation but Robin has been alone at the back, stocking shelves. She’d greeted him with a small _‘Hey, dingus’_ and before receiving a reply, she reached into her pocket, pulling out two small rainbow pin badges and had dropped them into his palm. 

“Thank you” He’d said “Did you speak to that lady? Did she say if they have anything- you know, for people like me?”  
“Just the one flag so far, but maybe one day that will change” she’d said, smiling reassuringly

He’d kept his hands on the badges the whole way home, thumbing them around in his pocket. They feel _heavy_ , but he can’t take his hands off them, nor can he stop thinking about what this means- how significant it feels to have a token to represent _who he is._ His mind is still racing as he steps through the front door and into the kitchen, greeting his mom who is setting the dinner table. She has little to say to him, which Mike finds unusual; he’s used to more of a conversation. But instead she settles on a _‘how are Dustin and Lucas?’_ and on hearing that they were ok, leaves him with a _‘dinner will be ten minutes.’_ It's safe to say her attitude doesn’t make him feel _great_ , Dustin’s words from earlier also playing on his mind a little. He’s on edge until his mom calls them all to the table, Mike taking a seat next to Holly, and she finally speaks.

“We saw Lonnie Byers in town today” She says casually, taking a sip of her wine “He’s moving back to Hawkins” 

Her comment is more than enough to derail his thoughts onto a different track. Mike had always been aware that Lonnie wasn’t the _nicest_ of guys, even when he was six years old and hugging a crying Will because his dad was leaving, or when he was ten and hugging a sad Will because his dad hadn’t shown up for a visit, or when he’d see Will flinch everytime someone called him a _queer_ because he knew he was remembering all the times his dad had called him the same thing. So yeah, he’d always known Lonnie wasn’t great, but the older he got, the more open Will became about the mental and the _‘It was only occasional, Mike. Mom and Jonathan always tried to stop him_ ’ physical abuse he’d faced, Mike had realised that Lonnie Byers was nothing more than a pathetic excuse of a human being, and just thinking of him causes his anger to rise. He stabs at a piece of broccoli. 

“Did he not get the memo that no one wants him here?” he asks, rolling his eyes

“Michael” his dad scolds “Don’t be rude”

“I’m not being rude” he defends “I’m _right._ He’s a piece of shit-”

_“Language!”_

“And I don’t know why he thinks anybody would want to see him again”

“Well he does” his mom says “We spoke. He asked if we knew where Joyce was. Said he went to the house and was surprised to see someone else living there. Did she not tell him? I’m surprised she’d try and keep him from seeing his kids”

“Did you tell him where they are?” Mike demands “Mom-”

“I just said they’d moved to Illinois” His mom shrugs, and Mike lets out a small exhale “Your dad mentioned Benton”

Mike drops his fork, and it clatters loudly on his plate - Holly picking it up and giving it back to him.

“Mom, there’s a reason they didn’t tell him. He’s _awful_ to them. He hasn’t called them _once_ since we found Will alive. He doesn’t care. He probably only wants to talk to Joyce because he wants money, but he can forget it. They’re all finally happy. Joyce is engaged and-”

“Joyce is _engaged?!”_ His mom lowers her glass, eyebrow raised

_Oops._

“Um-” He says nothing more than that, looking between his mom and dad at the table before picking up another piece of broccoli with his fork

“Who is Joyce engaged to?” His mom asks, “How has she had the time to meet someone and get engaged?”

“Can I go to the wedding?” Holly excitedly pulls at Mike’s sleeve, her voice in stark contrast to Karen’s own. 

“They’ve been living in Benton for nearly two years” Mike mutters before taking Holly’s hand away from his shirt, giving it a small squeeze and smiling at her.

_Besides it's not so much how she personally had the time. It’s more when would he be brought back home from Russia alive._

“ _Mike,_ who-”

“Mom, I’m not going to tell you about _Joyce’s love life_ so you can gossip about her on the phone to Jill _”_

“I _don’t_ gossip”

His dad, mid mouthful of a piece of chicken, gives a snort but tries to cover it with a cough and Mike can’t help but smirk slightly. His mom looks over to glare at his dad, letting out a _‘Ted’_ between gritted teeth. Mike sighs.

“Look, they’ve just got engaged, they’re not telling anyone right now. I shouldn’t have said anything really” 

“So then how do you know?”

“What?”

“If they’re not saying anything, then why do you know?” she raises an eyebrow

_Shit._

“Well, Will told me” he mutters, cutting up a potato.

“Will, huh?” She mumbles, taking another sip of her wine before continuing, “You know, I saw Jane in town yesterday. You didn’t say she was visiting”

“I didn’t know she was. But sometimes she comes for the day to see Max” He says quickly, taking a drink from his own glass, “We’re not together mom, she doesn’t have to tell me what she’s doing and when she’s doing it”

“ _Mike,_ you can tell me if you are- or if there’s anything going on-”

“Mom, we’re not together anymore. I’m not dating Jane, before you even _ask_ , I’m not dating Max. I’m not seeing _any girls._ I promise. _”_

She holds his gaze for a moment before taking one more sip of wine and simply saying “You know where I am if you need to talk”

The rest of dinner is finished in an uncomfortable silence.

* * *

**Saturday 27th June 1987. Hawkins, Indiana.**

The atmosphere is different from the day previous when he meets Lucas and Will, suitcase in hand, at the birch tree a little way down Maple Street that afternoon. He says goodbye to his mom, promises he’ll call her when he gets to Benton - telling her he won’t cause too much trouble - and leaves. He smiles at Lucas, then at Will and they make a start on the _long_ walk to what once was Hopper’s cabin. 

The conversation on the journey there isn’t the _most_ interesting, more small talk than anything and he can tell Will knows something is up, if the occasional glances he would give him were _any_ indication. 

Surprisingly, it’s Lucas that says “You’re unusually quiet,” Will nodding in agreement.

“I’m fine.”

“No you’re not”

“ _Lucas._ Really, I’m just tired.”

Lucas mumbles a _“Well, ok”_ before walking ahead. Will glances at him again, this time Mike catching his gaze and mouthing a simple ‘ _Later’._ Will gives him a reassuring smile and they both hurry to catch up with Lucas.

Unexpectedly they’re the first to arrive this time, Max and El arriving shortly after and Dustin running in, out of breath, fifteen minutes later, with Lucas simply saying “Well, well, well. How the tables have turned.”

“ _You_ were late twice. How is the comparable? I’m within my _rights_ to be a little late”

“I’m sorry, within your _rights?-”_

“-And besides, fifteen minutes is _very_ different to forty five” 

Hopper’s old cabin, with a _little bit_ of renovation, had become almost a hangout spot for them all. After he’d _‘died’,_ Joyce had thought it would be a good idea to fix up the cabin _again_ and keep it as a place they could all stay when they visited Hawkins (saving Joyce on motel money). She hadn’t said it out loud, but Mike suspected that she’d been so insistent that they save the cabin as a memory for El, and so she could somewhat keep her first real home. 

That wasn’t to say it looked exactly like how they all remembered it from those two years ago. The cabin has truly been made _theirs,_ each member of The Party adding their own addition to the walls and rooms - Max making shelves out of her old, broken skateboards, Dustin using comic book pages instead of wallpaper, Lucas supplying movies fitting each each of their personalities _(“Now you’ve got no excuse but to watch some actual good movies, Dustin”),_ El bringing a new board game on each visit to Hawkins and Mike, himself, simply providing a journal with the idea that whenever they stayed at the cabin they could all add a new entry. 

Will however, took a different approach and, if and Mike was being honest, was his _favourite_ part. In what was once the living room of the cabin, on the back wall Will had created a mural simply entitled _‘The Party’_ in a mixture of mediums, ranging from paintings to photographs. It had taken him a whole day to complete it, The Party banned from the cabin until it was finished and, on each visit, they took it amongst themselves to add more photos (and the occasional new drawing from Will.) He was modest about it, but you could tell that Will was proud of his creation, and the rest of them were too.

Mike looks at the mural for a moment before pulling his attention back to his friends. He does feel a little better being around them all, though things still feel slightly awkward from the day before- the conversation with his mom also still playing on his mind a little. This only increases when Lucas asks an hour later who’s going with him to get some snacks from Big Buy.

“You all go,” Will suggests, “We’ll stay here-”

“Yeah, absolutely not” Dustin interrupts, “After _that_ yesterday, who knows what we’ll walk back in on”

“Real mature, Dustin” Mike rolls his eyes.

“No, I think Will’s right. We should all go, these guys can hold down the fort” Lucas interjects, herding them all outside, Dustin still complaining under his breath. Mike notices Will mouth a ‘thank you’ to Lucas, who nods in return, causing El and Max to give them both a look, before closing the door behind them. 

“Ok, what’s wrong?” Will faces him on the couch, putting his feet up and crossing his legs, “Everyone’s gone, it’s just me and it’s _technically_ later”

Mike chuckles, though it’s subdued. He shuffles next to Will and wraps an arm around his shoulders. He feels Will nestle into his chest and he reaches for Mike’s free hand, interlocking their fingers.

“There’s just _a lot_ going on in my mind right now” 

“Does any of it have to do with yesterday?”

“More like _all of it”_

“Oh.”

There's a slight pause.

Will tenses “Do you- do you regret it? What happened at the lake”

“What? No, _no._ Well, I regret maybe taking Steve’s advice on making a grand gesture, and that I did it in front of all of our friends but no. _Definitely not”_

“That was what Steve’s advice was? The ‘ _bad advice from Steve Harrington’_ you ran to _Family Video_ for?”

“I didn’t _run_ to him for advice, he gave it to me whilst I was there, completely unsolicited”

“You still took it though”

“You didn’t exactly complain” Mike rolls his eyes before smirking at Will, who nudges him. 

“Well, no.” he admits after a moment, and then pauses, clearly thinking. “But you know we can never tell Steve that, right?”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Mike says sarcastically, “We won’t have to. You really think Dustin is going to keep quiet? Judging by his reaction yesterday, Steve probably already knows”

Will groans, before they both share a chuckle “So, that’s one problem solved then. What’s the next one?”

“Not too far from the first issue”

“Lucas and Dustin then?”

“We have a winner.”

He sighs and lets go of Will’s hand and pulls him in closer, resting his chin on the top of his head.

“First of all, _friends only_ week? _Bullshit._ If I said to everyone ‘Hey everyone, Max can’t hang out with us this week because it’s for _friends only_ ’ no-one would go along with it, Max _definitely_ wouldn’t. Neither would Lucas. This rule wasn’t in place for El, so why should it be now. It makes more sense _not_ being in place now because we’re all friends anyway” Mike sighs again, Will making an attempt to look up at him “I know they apologised but it just feels targeted somehow. And that’s not even mentioning Dustin’s reaction at the lake”

“In fairness, I don’t know if I would have liked it if it were you and El- and not just because I’d be jealous. I don’t think I would have liked it if it were anyone. It was pretty _intense”_ Will looking up again, giving him a sheepish smile

“I’m sorry” Mike grimaces

“No, it’s ok. I can’t exactly say anything because I was one half of the equation. It was great, for me, _for us,_ just- well I know what it’s like to be on the other side of it.” Will pauses again “I guess you wouldn’t know though, having dated one third of The Party now”

Mike nudges him playfully “It’ll be more than one third if you don’t shut up-” but he’s also grinning as he says it, and Will clearly doesn’t mind as he rests back against Mike’s chest. 

“I do know what you mean, though” Will sighs, as if considering his next words, “I dunno, maybe they’re trying to help in their own way. Lucas did call me before I came back, saying you looked shaken up that day you told me about- you know, with Robin. I guess it could be their attempt to help-”

_Some help they’ve been._

“-but I don’t know how telling me we’re _‘quite serious’_ and that it’s _‘unexpected’_ is helping with anything”

“They said _what?”_

Will shifts out of his arms, turning round to face him on the couch

“What do they mean _unexpected_? Did they just expect me to get bored and dump you after a week?”

“My boyfriend: _The Charmer_ ” Will responds, resting his chin on his palm of his hands

He wasn’t exactly sure where Lucas and Dustin had got _that_ idea from, especially taking into consideration how hesitant they both were about going forward with their relationship in the first place - and how much the two of them, and Max, had encouraged Mike to stop being ridiculous and just go for it. 

“Do _you_ think we’re _quite serious_?” He asks Will, furrowing his eyebrows

“I don’t know” Will mumbles, shifting his eyes, “I haven’t really thought about it-”

“Oh. Well El said, and I quote, you said something gross about how you can’t imagine your life without me”

Will turns _red._ “El is a traitor. What I _meant_ was, when I think of the future, after high school and everything, I can’t see you not there”

“So _exactly_ what El said then.” Mike grins. “I like that you’ve thought about it, though. I have too”

“Good” Will smiles softly, pausing for a moment before, “Well, I heard _you_ think that I’m _hotter than Phoebe Cates”_

_Dustin._

He groans, remembering back to Valentines Day, in his basement, eating way too many of Holly’s cookies and playing _way too many_ games of Uno. It’s not that he’s embarrassed per se, after all, he _did_ mean it. It’s more that he never considered this would come up in conversation again, especially with the subject mentioned involved.

“What _actually_ happened was that Dustin was complaining that Suzie dumped him and said that she was _hotter than Phoebe Cates_ and I said she’s no _you”_

“ _Exactly_ what Dustin said then.” It’s Will that grins this time and Mike rolls his eyes, “So, I am? Hotter than Phoebe Cates?”

“Don’t let it get to your head” Mike lightly pushes him, before “But yeah. I think you are”

Will beams at him and Mike can’t help but feel Will won't let him forget that any time soon. Though, through all the jests, they still haven’t addressed the question at hand, Mike realises. So he takes a moment and breaches the subject again

“Do you? Think we’re _serious_ , I mean?” 

He notices Will scan his face, almost before looking for any signs of hesitation, before finally nodding.

“Yes. But I’d say that’s a good thing. Unless, _you_ don’t think it’s a good thing”

“I think that, too. Definitely good. _Definitely_ a good thing”

“That’s a lot of _definitely,_ Mike”

“That’s because, Will, I’m _definitely_ serious about _you”_

“ _Smooth”_ Will rolls his eyes, but then there’s a change, Will faltering slightly as he bites at the corner of his lip “Actually, while we’re on the subject on things that Lucas and Dustin have said, I did kind of want to talk about something”

Mike frowns, meeting Will’s gaze

“I didn’t really expect you to do that, at the lake I mean, it was _bold”_

“Does bold mean _bad?_ ”

“ _No_ , no, we’ve already established the moment itself was definitely fine by me.” Will pauses for a moment, Mike noticing his face reddens and he can’t help but laugh a little. “I just mean- it’s more- you’ve gotten a lot more confident since Spring Break, which is _great_ and I love this and I love that we have these moments together but-” Will sighs, “I felt you tense a bit, when Dustin said about secrecy”

“Weirdly, this was my next concern. It kind of mixes with my final one too” 

Will takes his hands once again, playing with his fingers and Mike can’t help but smile at the small action

“Mike, I don’t want to be a secret as much as I’m sure you don’t but I don’t want a moment like that, a moment that's _ours,_ to be the reason we’re not a secret anymore. It sucks, it really does and I want to be able to walk through Hawkins, holding your hand, showing the world who we are, but what I want _more_ is you to feel safe and comfortable and, like I said on Wednesday, like _you’re_ ready. I don’t need Steve Harrington’s grand gestures. The little moments like _this_ , moments when it’s just us means just as much”

He’s reminded of the small badges in his pocket and for a moment he considers giving it to Will now.

 _It wouldn’t take much._ He thinks. _Just take it out and give him one, that’s all you need to do._

But he can’t, finding he stops himself before he even begins to make a move.

“Really Mike, I mean that,” Will’s words bring Mike out of his thoughts, “I can’t say that enough I don’t think”

He considered that maybe he had been a little _relaxed_ recently, thought if he was honest, he wasn’t actually sure of when that change happened for him- he couldn’t say it was something he was consciously aware of. But until Dustin’s words, until his mom’s words, the implications hadn’t sunk in. It was a _risk,_ the more he thought about it, but then, he had meant what he’d told Dustin at the lake; no-one was around. No-one saw anything. At this point, himself and Will had been together for half a year, that’s half a year of _sneaking around_ , but, moreso, half a year of doing it _successfully._ But, he’s not stupid and Will’s words of a not wanting a moment that’s _theirs_ to be the reason they’re not a secret anymore hit him hard. He knows it only takes the wrong person to see them, and say something, and they’re in trouble and _that_ had been playing on his mind from the moment he left the lake. 

“I had been thinking of that.” Mike tells him, “Especially when I got home. I wasn’t exactly thinking about other people when we were at the lake, it was very in the moment”

Will rolls his eyes before his expression turns more serious “What do you mean, when you got home?”

“My mom is questioning things more- not about us, I don’t think she has any idea anyway- but she saw El in town, with Max. Asked why I didn’t say anything, and then did her whole _‘you can talk to me’_ thing again. It just kind of put things into perspective I guess. Maybe Dustin was right, all this crap about keeping everything on the down low and I nearly blow it because I’ve been getting too confident.” Mike rubs at his eyes before continuing “I meant it though, what I said. If you wanted me to, I’d tell them. I’d call them right now and do it.”

“Then that wouldn’t be for you, it would be for me. _Don’t_ do it just for me”

But Mike isn’t entirely sure now if it would be completely for Will. He’s starting to think he might be ready soon to do it for _himself._

“So, your mom asked about El?” Will speaks again after a moment 

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she thinks we’re dating again”

“Oh? Why?” Will frowns

“She thinks she’s in town because she was visiting me, she overheard us on the phone a few weeks ago and I may have accidentally told her your mom is engaged-

“What?”

“Yeah she told me Lonnie has moved back and-”

_“What?”_

“She wondered why I was allowed in on the family gossip.” He shrugs sheepishly 

“Ok.” Will stands, clasping his hands together “Ok, let’s start at the beginning. What did your mom overhear on the phone?”

“I don’t know,” Mike says. He _did_ know, but now was not the time to get into _that_ conversation he had with El during Spring Break. “Something about how she can’t feel it but that she thinks everything is ok and she’d know if something was wrong” He rushes slightly, hoping Will won’t pick up _all_ the details

“Ok,” Will says again, “So, your mom most likely thinks El is pregnant. More importantly, did she speak to Lonnie?”

_My mom thinks El is what?_

That isn’t what he’d expected Will to say. But, now looking back at the way his mom was acting, the way she’d said he could tell her if _‘anything was going on’_ and the looks she had been giving him, it suddenly made sense. She couldn’t be further from the truth, but he doesn’t know how he can tell her that without making her then think about what really was going on. If he lets himself admit it, he _is_ a little relieved that her behaviour hadn’t been because she knew about him and Will. When that _does_ happen, he wants it to be on his own terms. 

Despite this, however, there is a small part of him that feels a stab of hurt that she clearly hadn’t even considered the reality of the situation. The fact that his mom jumped to thinking that he’d gotten his ex-girlfriend _pregnant_ , but not wondered why he was suddenly talking about, talking to and constantly visiting _Will_ , only confirmed to him that _who is he_ isn’t even something that crosses her mind. 

The thought makes him feel worse about telling his parents.

“But that doesn’t even make sense. She knows I talk to _you._ She knows I’m visiting _you_. She picks up the phone one of the few times I call to talk to El and now I'm giving her grandkids?”

“Yeah, well in her mind, and everyone else’s, it’s probably easier to understand” Will rolls his eyes, a bitter tone in his voice. There’s something else there too, something Mike hadn’t quite figured out. He makes a note to ask him about it later.

“I _hate_ it” Mike bites 

“Yeah. Me too. But on that note, what’s that about Lonnie?”

“My mom and dad saw him, he told them he was moving back to Hawkins and asked after you all. Mom say you’d moved to Illinois-”

“Ok, Illinois is a big state that’s not too bad”

_Well._

Mike rubs his neck nervously, “But my dad _did_ mention Benton.”

And Will _grimaces_. Mike notices that the lights in the cabin flicker, and he doesn’t think it’s a coincidence. 

“Really, I’m sorry. The one time my dad _actually_ listens and speaks up and it’s something like this”

The lights flicker again and Will sits back down on the couch with a sigh. He places his head in his hands.

“It’s not your fault” he says eventually “And my mom isn’t alone this time at least. I just hate that he thinks he can do this, that he comes around only when he wants something and doesn’t care the rest of the time. I hate how he makes her feel”

Mike moves to put his arm around Will’s shoulder, pulling him in slightly

“It’s not _fair”_ Will continues “We were fine. Mom was _fine._ I know that she doesn’t love him anymore, but the way that he makes her feel just makes me so _angry_ . He has no right to come back into our lives, not after everything, not after he didn’t even check in _once_ , after Mom told him I was alive” Mike can feel Will shaking, and he pulls him in closer in an attempt to comfort.

“He doesn’t deserve you. Any of you” Mike says vehemently, rubbing Will’s arm softly.

“Damn right he doesn’t. Who treats their family like this? Who calls their kids the things he calls me? He _hurt_ my mom. He made Jonathan kill that rabbit. Does he think any of us want him there? What is he expecting to find by coming back, to see that everything is the same, we’re all the same. Mom is still _mom,_ Jonathan is still _Jonathan,_ and I’m still his _failed second chance_ at a better son- but to be honest, second best seems to be all I’m good for recently. What would he think now- seeing that I turned out exactly how he said I would. That I’m just a f-”

“ _No_ ” Mike interrupts sharply, Will’s words and the frantic flickering of the lights causing his concern to grow. Will stops, surprised at Mike’s tone, and Mike takes that moment to shift off the couch, kneeling in front of Will. He places his hands on Will’s shoulders, and waits until Will meets his eyes.

“ _No you’re not”_ he speaks again “You’re not _that._ You’re not any of the things he called you-”

“Yes I am”

“No. You’re _you_ . Being gay isn’t a bad thing, and it _isn’t_ any of the bad words people use to describe it. It’s just who you are- and I know from personal experience that who you are is a pretty amazing thing. The way you own it, the way you are with yourself, it made me feel like I could be like that with myself, too”

“I don’t know about ‘ _pretty amazing’_ ” Will mutters

“It’s lucky I do know a bit about that then, huh?” He replies, Will giving somewhat of a semblance of a smile.

“I _do_ know it’s not bad” Will says quietly after a while “It’s just that sometimes the words he’d used come back and hit me all at once and it’s _hard_ ”

“I know” Mike reassures, rubbing Will’s shoulders “But he doesn’t deserve you even thinking about him. Easier said than done, I know, but he really doesn’t deserve to take up space in your life”

“I hate him,” He admits, tone bitter. _So do I,_ Mike thinks _._ He gives Will’s shoulders another reassuring squeeze, before standing, and sitting next to him on the couch again. Will takes his hand “Thank you” 

“Anytime” Mike promises him “So. What’s this about you being second best?” 

“Really, we don’t need to talk about it. I’m meant to be reassuring you and all I’ve done it made it about myself. The guys will be back in a minute anyway-”

“-you _are_ reassuring me. Conveniently, the next point on my list was that _you’re_ ok”

Will says nothing for a while, his eyes looking around the room for something to focus on that isn’t Mike. 

“Will?”

“Did you know that Nick and El are friends?”

_There goes the ‘what’s said in the room, stays in the room’ rule._

Despite the circumstances and what has been said, he knows El will understand that he _can't_ lie to Will, not after everything he's just said. 

“Yeah. El told me on the phone” he admits

“Oh” Mike can’t quite figure out Will’s tone

“She actually spoke more about _you_ though. She’s worried”

“She doesn’t seem worried when she’s all over him at lunch” Will mutters

“Are you- and it’s fine, whatever, but are you jealous?”

He hates how anxious he feels for Will’s answer, which is weird, because up until this moment he didn’t think he _had_ any reason to worry.

Will, quickly turns to face him, a distressed look upon his face “ _What_ ? No. Mike, no I’m _not.”_ He places his hands onto Mike’s cheeks, rubbing his thumb across them soothingly. Mike relaxes a little “Did you forget about what I said earlier? When I imagine my future, there’s _no-one else_ , No one else has ever even _come close_ ” Will’s face turns from distressed to intense, and Mike knows he means every word he’s saying.

_Oh._

The jealousy is swept away by a feeling he can only describe as warm. He leans into Will’s touch, turning his head slightly and kissing Will’s palm. 

“So no, I’m not jealous” Will reassures again, letting his hands drop “There’s just been a lot, recently and I’m just starting to think that maybe- maybe I’m just a stepping stone to something better”

“A stepping stone to something better?”

“It’s like-” Will pauses for a moment, biting at his bottom lip, “You got a NES recently, right?” Mike nods, “Ok and you like your NES and it’s got really cool games and it feels like it’s the best thing right now. But what happens when Nintendo releases something new, or an upgraded, _better_ version of that console? You’ll just forget all about the first one. _That’s_ how it feels.”

“You’re a bit different to a games console, Wil”

“It’s an analogy, Michael” Will rolls his eyes

“In all seriousness, you’re _not_ second best. Not to _me._ And not to _anyone._ You’re _Will_ , how could we replace you?” And if Mike notices that Will’s lip twitches, he doesn’t comment. “I do think you should talk to El though, and not _just_ about her and Nick”

The light flickers again but it’s so subtle that Mike isn’t sure if it’s Will.

“I can deal with it myself. I’ve been dealing with it by myself since Spring Break”

“But the thing is, you don’t _have_ to. We’re all here”

It’s at that moment that a voice from outside the cabin door interrupts

“Is it safe to come in?” they hear Dustin call out

“No” Mike calls back quickly. He looks back to Will “ _Talk_ to her. I really think it will help”

Before Will can reply, the cabin door swings open. Lucas steps over the threshold, mid sentence _“Don’t be ridiculous”_ he’s saying to Dustin, who has one had covering his eyes _“They obviously weren’t going to be doing anything. You can open your eyes, Dustin”_. The Party all filter through the door, shopping backs in hand. Mike notices that El immediately shoots Will a peculiar look, causing Will to look away. 

“Everything alright?” Lucas asks, looking between the two of them

“Yep.” Will swiftly stands, making his way over to The Party, taking a shopping bag out of Max’s hands, “You guys relax, I’ll get this ready.”

Mike catches Lucas’ eye once again, who raises an eyebrow at him. He shrugs in return before sighing and clapping his hands together “Yeah, Will’s right. We’ve got this, what can we do to help?”

It’s late when they eventually get to sleep, not really considering the fact that two thirds of them had to be up the next morning for a relatively early bus. Compared to how the night started, the rest of their time spent at the cabin is relatively uneventful; they share snacks, they watch a movie, they play a game of _never have I ever_ that Mike finds incredibly satisfying.

“Never have I ever tried to keep one of my friends away from the group for a whole week to fit some dumb friends only rule”

“There’s a rule of this right? Surely this is cheating?”

And Dustin made a point to _not_ sleep next to himself and Will. 

But despite this, despite the happy atmosphere, Mike couldn’t help but worry. Not _just_ about himself now, not just about his mom or the fact the badges were _still_ sitting in his pocket, but that when he looks at Will, he notices something is still _off-_ And with every glance that he and El share throughout the night, he knows that _she_ knows that too. It makes him unable to fully relax, and keeps an unsettling feeling in his stomach. 

* * *

**Sunday 28th June 1987. Hawkins, Indiana.**

“I can’t believe you’re ditching us” Lucas groans as he pulls away from hugging Max goodbye at the Greyhound stop, “And you,” he turns his head towards Mike, “Can’t believe you’re going to three weeks. Still not sure how you were able to wing that”

Will smiles, “Well, the invite is always open if you guys want to come too?” it’s then that he promptly receives a nudge in the ribs and hears a muttered “ _No.”_ from Mike

“No thanks, I don’t want to be sharing a room with you two for _three weeks_ ” Dustin says, dramatically shivering.

Will notices Mike roll his eyes. “This is _really_ getting old, you know?”

“Geez, stop with the bickering already.” Max interjects with a huff, “Let’s go already, before the bus leaves without us”

With one final goodbye, Will, Mike, El and Max step onto the bus, showing their tickets as they do.

They make their way to their seats, Mike and Will together on one side of the aisle and Max and El a few seats down on the other side. The bus is relatively empty and for that Will is grateful. 

He swings his bag up into the overhead compartment and lets Mike know that he’ll be back in a second, motioning his head towards El. Receiving a reassuring glance in return, he heads to their seats.

“Hey, I want to talk to El a sec. Do you guys mind if we swap back our seats in a second?” He asks Max just as she finishes stowing her own bag and sits next to El. His sister gives him a strange look as Max stands, moving so Will can sit down.

“I can’t believe you’re making me sit next to _Wheeler_ ” she jokingly groans, but moves across the aisle to Will’s seat

“You know you love it” He hears Mike jest, receiving a real groan from Max this time.

Will rolls his eyes before turning to face El

“What’s wrong?” she asks, frowning.

For the first time in months, he lets his guard down, allowing El into the _creepy sibling connection._ It’s an onslaught of emotion he knows, but he thinks it's time he’s made her aware just what has been going on inside his head.

“Will-what was that? I saw- but that’s not possible, right? We _killed_ it. What’s going on? Is everything ok?”

“No” he replies “We need to talk”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! You can find us, and follow us both on tumblr [@mayfixlds](https://mayfixlds.tumblr.com/) [@okwillthewise](https://okwillthewise.tumblr.com/)


	7. Hiding in the dark, hiding in the street and of what was following me.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> El opens her eyes and looks around her, seeing the usual darkness that she’s accustomed to whenever she’s in the void. She acknowledges the figure in front of her, Will, sitting cross legged, and makes a move towards him, kneeling down at his height when she gets there. She can vaguely make out the echoes of Mike and Max bickering and she wishes they’d stop - they never seem to realise how bad a distraction can be when she’s in here - before she reaches out to take Will’s hand. 
> 
> And then there’s a shift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hope you enjoy this chapter. It's one of our favourites to write and we've been so excited to share it with you. This contains points that have been building for a few chapters now so enjoy, we're finally getting into it!
> 
> A separate note but, we now have a playlist for this fic that we will be continuously updating throughout! You can find it [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7t8mJp65jN5A9uawabb23f) It contains all the songs that are used as chapter titles, as well as all the songs features so have a little listen and we hope you like it!

**Sunday 28th June 1987. Benton, Illinois.**

“Will, I’m not lying to Karen Wheeler again” His mom says in lieu of a greeting as they walk through the door. Jonathan had picked them up from the Greyhound station around two in the afternoon, and they’d taken a very quiet car ride home “She called last night asking if you’d arrived safe and I had to tell her you’d all fallen asleep before you could call. I’ve already lied about these three weeks, I can’t keep doing this.”

Whilst he did, of course, understand why Mike hadn’t come out to his mom yet, it did put his own in a tricky position. It wasn’t that his mom was lying to Karen outright about Mike’s three weeks with The Byers, but more that when she’d phoned to make sure it was ok for her son to join them on their _‘three week trip to Chicago’_ which his mom, understandably, had no idea was happening, she’d been put on the spot; The end result being that for the foreseeable future, three week extended stays will _not_ be happening again.

“Sorry, Mrs. Byers” Mike grins sheepishly, “I _did_ promise I’d call her when I get here, so _technically_ I didn’t lie”

His mom rolls her eyes before kissing both Mike and himself on the forehead, “Did you have a nice trip?” she asks, before giving Max and El the same greeting

They all chorus a series of _‘yes’_ but El wraps her arms around their mom’s waist

“I missed you” she murmurs into her shoulder. Will notices his mom’s eyes soften considerably. There were so many reasons that Will loved just much their family had grown, but his favourite how happy it had made his mom. He watches as she pulls El in slightly tighter “I missed you too, honey” she says softly. 

He was glad that El was taking comfort from their mom right now - after their conversation on the bus, El had been, understandably, shaken up. Letting her back in so suddenly and all in one go, wasn’t the best idea in hindsight. When they’d first discovered they had this connection - nearly two years ago at this point - he knew how much the onslaught of emotions had affected her then. But, what Will hadn’t planned for was how much she was _feeling_ too. Being so concerned about his own worries and keeping them locked away, he had neglected to realise how much it was likely affecting his sister (and if he really thought about it, everyone around him)

 _It was selfish, really_ he thinks, looking back on the journey a few hours ago. By the time they’d arrived in Illinois he was exhausted, El was scared, Mike was growing more and more restless and Max more confused. It was also getting harder to act as though everything was ok in front of his parents, not just from the frequency he was going through light bulbs, but in the way he _was._ He doesn’t _understand._ Everything was fine up until New Year. The moment he allowed himself to enjoy something that was his; the moment he let go of that reminder of The Mind Flayer and reclaimed it for his own. 

And he’s repaid in nightmarish visions and miniscule cuts on his fingers from shards of glass.

“What about me too, kid? Don’t I get a greeting” Will turns to see his dad stood in the entryway to the living room, breaking him out of his thoughts. El pulls away from their mom, belining for him, engulfing him in a similar hug. El loved visiting Hawkins, but if she was away for more than a weekend, she started to get restless and really missed their parents. Will thinks it’s due to a mixture of her time in the lab, the uncertainty of a lot of her life and their dad’s _‘death’._

“Hi Dad” she mumbles. 

He squeezes her back, before pulling away and looking at Will. “Safe trip, son?” he asks

Will smiles at him. He knows it doesn’t quite reach his eyes but he hopes his dad won’t notice. “Long” he replies “Nice to have a lot of company this time, though”

His dad smiles back “Well, we’re glad you’re home” he turns to Max, giving her a soft _‘Hello’_ and then he turns to Mike with a gruff _“Wheeler”_

Mike rolls his eyes _“Hopper”_

Will’s mom swiftly claps her hands together, breaking the unnecessary tension his dad and his boyfriend had formed and asks “Who’s hungry?”

* * *

The day is largely uneventful, he catches his parents, and Jonathan, up on _what’s new in Hawkins -_ though _conveniently_ missing out details of what happened at the lake. Despite being back in the safety of their home, he can feel that he isn’t _right_ still, and in turn neither is El. So, when seven thirty brings Will and Max alone on the couch watching reruns of _Miami Vice_ as Mike and El disappeared into her room after deciding to have their Sunday night _gossip_ session, he’s not entirely surprised. His parents had gone out on a date for the evening _(“I think it’s only fair that your dad and I get a little time to ourselves, too”)_ and Jonathan was padding around the kitchen making grilled cheese, sneaking looks at the TV every so often. Max had questioned why Mike and El were still doing their weekly tradition, considering they’d just had a week in Hawkins, and he was _here_ with them (“ _Not exactly a lot to catch up on”)_ but Will considered that El needed that sense of normality, something that he suspects she wouldn’t have got if she was just spending all her time with them.

And Mike, of course, insisted after the events of ‘ _friends only’_ week and El and Max’s _girl time_ it was time they deserved.

Leaning forward for a handful of popcorn, Max breaks the comfortable silence that had settled between them. Out of the entire Party, he and Max probably spoke the least, but he really did enjoy her company. She was calm, accepting and he truly appreciated the support and friendship she’d given Mike this past half a year. That feeling was slightly interrupted tonight, however, as he knew she was itching for answers, almost feeling her holding back. 

“Does it bother you that you don’t know what they’re saying?” She asks instead, throwing the popcorn in the air one by one, and attempting to catch it with her mouth. 

“Who, Rico and Sonny?” he replies, gesturing to the TV

“ _No_ you moron. El and Mike. Does it not drive you mad?”  
He shrugs “Not really. They do this every Sunday-” They hear a laugh coming from El’s room, “ _That_ happens every Sunday too”

“What’s with the secrecy, though?”  
“Who knows?” he rolls his eyes “They have a rule and everything _‘what’s said in the room, stays in the room.’_ Mike tells me little bits but, otherwise, who knows? _”_

He spots Jonathan out of the corner of his eye, grilled cheese plated up, begin to make his way into the hallway. He’d been meaning to talk with him all day, never quite finding the time between his mom’s excitement of having guests, his dad’s dismay at one of those guests being Mike, and everyone settling in. 

“Will?” He’s brought out of his thoughts by Max, raising an eyebrow at him. “Are you still with me?”

“You know what?” He stands from the couch, looking in the direction that his brother had just gone, “I’ll be right back. Is that ok?” Not, staying around for an answer, he makes his way, towards the hall. Being with Max was nice, but he knew their minds were both on the one thing they couldn’t talk about right now. Talking to Jonathan would at least solve one of his easier problems. He feels a bit awkward asking, but he knows it will help him with a comfort he needs right now.

With a sigh Will, calls out “Jonathan?” as he reaches his brother’s door - knocking twice before adding “Can I come in?”

It’s a moment later that he hears “It’s open!” in response. Slowly pushing open the door, he sees Jonathan sat at his desk, grilled cheese in hand. He smiles at Will when he steps inside, closing the door behind him. Making his way over to Jonathan’s bed, he sits down on it, back against the wall and doesn’t speak. 

He exhales.

He still doesn’t speak.

“Everything alright?” Jonathan asks slowly, before taking a bite of the sandwich.

“Yeah. Yep. Everything’s fine. I just wanted to talk to you about something” Will replies quickly, fiddling with the sleeves of his t-shirt.

_This is the easier problem. You were fine earlier, stop acting so awkward about it._

Jonathan frowns, sets down his sandwich, and makes his way to join Will on the bed, sitting opposite him.

“Are you sure?” he prompts “You seem- _on edge”_

“I am. But only a little. I just need some advice but you can’t tell Mom or El. And definitely don’t tell Dad”

Ok, ok” he holds his hands up in mock surrender “I won’t say anything. Can you tell me what’s going on, now?”  
  


Another exhale.

“How did you and Nancy manage to sneak around so much? How did you not get caught?”

He watches the moment realisation fills his brother’s eyes. 

“Oh” 

Another silence.

_“Oh”_

“Look, if you don’t want to talk about it- that’s fine, just forget I said anything” he moves to stand from the bed but Jonathan holds out a hand to stop him. 

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to talk about it, I just wasn’t expecting that to be what _you_ wanted to talk about”

“Well, I do. So, can we? I get it if it’s too weird”

“No, Will. Look, it’s fine, I don’t mind talking about it. Honestly? I think the reason we weren’t caught is because we were so bad at sneaking around that Mom knew and just didn’t call us out”

_Helpful._ _And by helpful, I mean_ _not very_. 

“Jonathan, I share a _bedroom wall,_ with our _parents._ Dad owns _guns_ . Multiple guns”

“What exactly are you asking me advice _for_ , Will?” 

“Wait. _No_ . Not like _that_ . Not yet” he sighs “Look. Mom and Dad set a camp bed rule back during _Spring Break._ They said they think it’s _fair_ , but I don’t sleep well without him when I know he’s nearby. I just wondered if you had any tips so that he could share with me and we, preferably, _didn’t_ get caught”

It’s not a lie, not completely. But if he happened to miss out a _few_ details as to why sleeping was a minor problem right now, that was of no concern to anyone but himself. He knows as soon as it was possible Max would find out - he’s reluctant (though he considers _anything_ to stop the feeling of her trying to get it out of him) but there’s no way El wouldn’t want her to know. With Mike knowing and now Lucas, too, his web of secrets was becoming more and more entangled and he didn’t want to expand it any further. 

“Ok” he sighs “Me and Nancy would set an alarm way before we knew Mom would wake up. Nancy would sneak out before we could get caught. I guess in your case, it gives Mike more time to move back to the camp bed. If they check in, they won’t see anything out of place”

“That’s actually a _really_ good idea” Will says

Jonathan rolls his eyes “Don’t act so surprised. I have good ideas sometimes”

“So it was Nancy’s idea, right?” Will grins

Jonathan sighs again “Yeah. Yeah it was”

Before Will can reply, there is another knock on Jonathan’s door.

“Will? Are you coming back? El and Mike are taking ages and _Miami Vice_ is boring without anyone to watch it with”

“Just a minute!” he calls back

“Did you just leave her out there?” Jonathan asks, frowning slightly

“It was the only time I could get you on your own without everyone else wanting to know why” he shrugs, standing from the bed “I better go now, though” and he pads across the room

“Will, are you sure there is nothing else going on?” Jonathan says before he can reach the door “Between you and Mike, I mean?”

“No” he reassures, turning his head “I mean it. That’s all. For _today_ , at least” Will gives a sheepish, slightly embarrassed laugh, and Jonathan replies with an awkward clearing of his throat.

“You can talk to me about whatever, you know that, right? Not just about Mike, about anything really, you know you can trust me” Will nods. Guilt rushes over him but he knows he can’t risk telling him about what's going on. Not before he knows himself. Jonathan didn’t deserve to be dragged back into something he’d spent so long trying to get out of. “If you need anything, _anything at all,_ just ask”

* * *

It takes two more episodes of _Miami Vice_ before Mike and El are finished. They wander back in, Mike mumbling one last thing to El before making his way to the couch, sitting in between Will and Max _(“Move.”)_ , and casually throwing his arm around Will’s shoulders. Will nestles into his hold, making an attempt at ignoring Max _dramatic_ gag which earned a swift nudge in the ribs from Mike, which _consequently_ earned an eye roll from El.

 _She looks a little better_ he thinks, shifting his gaze from the TV to the armchair where El was situated. And she did; the El he was looking at now was significantly brighter from the one he saw when they’d first arrived back home and he feels relieved more than anything. She looks at him, a questioning look upon her face, which he greets simply with a smile, before turning back to the TV, nestling in a little closer. 

“You ok?” He hears Mike ask, softly. He guesses he is, well as much as he can be. He’s happy for _this_ , that in this moment he’s ok, that El’s ok and he doesn’t put that down to anything but the friends they’ve had surrounding them today. Because, when it comes down to it, he doesn’t know what they’d have been like if Mike and Max weren’t with them so, when he gives a small “yes” in reply to Mike, he thinks that for a moment he really does mean it. 

As it was Mike and Max’s first night here, and with the permission of their parents, they’d ordered pizza for themselves for dinner - though, by the time it arrived, his mom and dad had arrived back home, divulging little details on how their evening was, so it was only fair to let them have a share if they wanted. The night found the family gathered in the living room (his dad giving Mike the side eye when he noticed their position on the couch) eating straight from the boxes, and watching _Square Dance_ on VHS - much to the chagrin of Jonathan, Max and his dad.

“It was a _box office flop._ Come on mom, surely we’ve got something _better_ to put on?”

But, of course, El and his mom _had_ liked the movie, and so a _ridiculously_ long debate about whether it was actually good or not had arisen. 

It’s close to midnight by the time they all head to bed that night and, whilst Will hadn’t been directly involved in _‘The Great Movie Debate of 1987’,_ he admits it had been nice to attempt to take his mind off of the more pressing concerns that he had. Though, when Mike is _still_ talking about how stupid the movie was by the time they’re in Will’s room, he considers that maybe he wishes his mind could think of anything else.

“So,” Will asks, desperate to change the topic. He’d been sitting back against the headboard of his bed, cross legged, reading a _Spider-Man_ comic he’d read thousands of times before. The words all start to blend into one as Mike’s ranting reaches a crescendo, and he reaches across his nightstand and turns on his table lamp, gesturing for Mike to turn off the light. “What did you and El talk about in _‘gossip time’_?”

Mike rolls his eyes, stopping his dramatic pacing, and heads to flip the switch off _(“You could do this from where you are, Will” he mutters)_ before walking across to his camp bed and arranging the pillows. “It’s not _officially_ called gossip time you know?”

“El thinks it is”

“We’ve never discussed a name.” He flops himself down, laying on the top of the comforter. “Besides, I can’t tell you anyway. What’s said in the room-”

“-Stays in the room, yeah I know. You do tell me some things though, like at the cabin”

“Not _supposed_ to.” Mike stresses “I did tell her about that by the way - that I told you I mean”

Will frowns, “Was she ok? About you breaking the _pact_ ”

“She understood, I think. Given the circumstances”

“Has she said anymore about-?”

“ _Will.”_

He holds up his hands in defeat “Ok, ok. I’ll respect the rule. I’m just _curious”_

A pause.

“Besides, today I mainly spoke about my _boyfriend_. I don’t know if you know him” Will can tell there’s a teasing tone in Mike’s voice and tries to not take the bait. 

“Really?” he takes it, raising an eyebrow “Is he _nice_?” he grins

 _“What’s said in the room, stays in the room”_ Mike echos, grinning back

“You can’t just _say that_ and not tell me _anything”_

“And _you_ shouldn’t keep asking about _‘gossip time’”_ And the next thing Will knows is that one of the pillows from the camp bed is being launched towards his head, clipping the side of his face. He laughs, throwing it back, missing Mike by a long shot, causing Mike to groan and roll out of the bed to pick it up off of the floor. Hugging it to his chest, he makes his way back to the camp bed, arranges his pillows once again and settles under the covers. Will follows suit, sliding under the comforter.

“Goodnight Mike. Happy first night of three weeks”

Mike chuckles before yawning “Night Will. Just shake me awake if you need anything, ok?”

“Ok.”

They’re silent for a few minutes, Will beginning to wonder if Mike really had drifted off - they’d all noted throughout the day that they were still feeling the after effects of staying up too late in the cabin combined with the journey home. He sighs, laying on his back looking up at the ceiling, counting the glow-in-the-dark stars and thinking over his brother’s words.

“Mike?” He tests. He _had_ been pretty quiet so Will knows it’s a long-

“Took you long enough to say something. Don’t think I’ve ever heard someone shuffle around so much, and I’ve got a seven year old sister” Mike turns over in the camp bed, and Will can just about make out a grin

“Shut up, you could have said something too”

“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?”

In mock annoyance Will turns over, pulling his bed sheets higher over his shoulders, hearing Mike laugh again. He focuses again on Jonathan’s suggestion, then the words he is about to say, hoping that Mike will be on board with them. He takes a deep breath, exhales and relaxes his grip on the comforter.

“Mike?” he tries again

“Yeah?”

He takes a breath, “Want to break the rules?”

* * *

**Wednesday 1st July 1987. Benton, Illinois.**

There’s a small knock on his bedroom door at half past four early Wednesday morning and, after a small _‘come in El’,_ his sister walks through the door, closing it behind her and moves sits on the empty - and clearly unslept in - camp bed, taking a quick glance at Mike before yawning, rubbing at her eyes, and then turning her attention back to Will. The look she gives him is one Will would, in his mind, describe as _pity_ and he hates it and takes the opportunity to turn on the light, allowing himself to focus on the electricity pulsing through, serving as a distraction from his sister.

“What was it about this time?” she asks with no preamble “Was he still in Benton?” 

“Every nightmare I’ve had since the first Benton one has happened here” Will replies, voice still a little hoarse. Mike rubs his shoulder softly “I’m scared that he knows where I am. Where _you_ are”

“That worries me, too” Mike adds, biting his lip “Especially because we know he knows who El is - and what she has tried to do to him before”

“This is too much for four in the morning” Will moans, pushing down the voice in his head telling him _he’s only concerned about El_ “I just wish these nightmares would stop, or I could at least figure out what _he_ wants” 

_Oh._

_I could figure out what he wants._

El, says nothing for a moment, scanning him with a _particular_ look for a moment, making Will feel slightly exposed. It’s only brief but El gives a small shake of her head and sighs before speaking.

“It’s been getting worse since you stopped letting me in, hasn’t it?” El asks, biting at her bottom lip. “But then, it’s not all the time. Only some days.”

Will frowns, “Only some days? El I don’t think I’ve had a week since March when I haven’t had at least one a week. More often than not it’s a nightly _routine_ -”

“I still have them sometimes. Of the lab, of _Papa_. It feels really real, like I’m back there with him, but it’s just a memory. Dad said there’s a name for it”

“But these are _different._ Last time they told me it was _just a memory_ it ended up taking over my body.” 

“That happened so fast, though” Mike notes, expression thoughtful “This is happening so slowly. It doesn’t make sense”

“Well, maybe he’s waiting for something” Will proposes, tone slightly defensive “Maybe he’s waiting until one of us slips up and he can see where we are”

“In your dream, does it always look like that? Like it’s _you?”_ El offers “I saw tonight, your guard was down” her expression suggests she was carefully choosing her words. He glances at Mike, who’s own expression was unreadable.

“What are you trying to say?” He knows there’s a bite to his tone but he doesn’t like the way El phrased the question.

“I’m not trying to _say_ anything. I’m trying to _understand_.” But she tries again, “Are they always like this, it being only you?”

“Well, yeah but I’m _not_ me, am I? Something’s wrong, does no-one believe me?”

El stands from the camp bed, before moving to sit on his bed. She holds out her hand, indicating for Will to take it and, after a moment he does. El wears a soft expression, squeezing his hand before speaking again.

“We _do_ believe you Will. I’m just thinking that- maybe- It’s more- maybe it _is_ different this time. When you’re not asleep, or maybe when you’re in the dreams too, can you _feel_ him? Like you could feel in the summer. Can you feel him like that?”

“No. Not quite. It’s more like I’m stuck? Almost as if he’s doing something _to_ me and I can’t stop it; like that day on the school field. I just feel _paralysed_ ” 

“And it only happens when you’re asleep?” El verifies

He frowns at the tone of her voice, but after a short delay, he nods his head. Despite confirming that her question was right, he can’t understand why she’s so focused on making sure that he’s asleep whilst this is all happening, and isn’t just concerned about the fact that it’s happening at all. “Why does that even matter anyway?”

“Look, Will” Mike starts “We don’t know if it _does_ matter, but it’s important that if this _is_ the Mind Flayer, we know as much as possible”

“I guess” he sighs “Yeah. It’s only when I’m asleep” 

Mike reaches toward him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. He gives it a small squeeze, before tracing his fingers down Will’s arm toward his hand, interlocking their fingers “Ok” Mike says after a little while “Why don’t we table this discussion until the sun is actually up? I can tell the nightmare has freaked you both out-”

“I’m not-” Will protests

Mike squeezes his hand this time “Look, I’m just saying maybe we should try and get a little more rest, and try to figure this out later when we’re a little less sleep deprived” 

Will nods in agreement. Whilst he knows that sleep isn’t going to come easy, he also knows that he probably should try. It had been a restless night, and his mom is bound to notice if he’s still looking as if he’s just woken up by the time she gets in from work. El, having also nodded in agreement, stands from the camp bed, and starts to make her way toward the door. As she does, Mike shifts the comforter, so that he and Will can slip back under the covers. He asks El to turn off the light as she reaches the door, which she does move her hand toward, but before she can flip the switch she turns her head back to Will and Mike. 

“Dad’s not going to be very happy, you know” she says, nodding to them both in the bed

He rolls his eyes “Yes he will because you’re not going to tell him”

El gives him a look he can only describe as devious “Buy me lunch next time we’re at the diner and we’re even” and with that, she turns the light off, plunging them into darkness. Will settles against Mike’s chest, and closes his eyes, ready to try and get a little bit more sleep. A comfortable silence falls between them for a few moments before Mike speaks once more.

“You know, I still can’t believe that you know your dad could walk in at _any_ moment and yet it was you that suggested this plan to _break the rules”_

Will laughs slightly, nudging him as best he can at the angle he’s at “You didn't exactly say no. Now, follow your own advice by shutting up and getting some sleep”

“That’s _not_ what I said” Mike retorts

“ _Goodnight_ Mike” He sighs, but takes hold of the hand that’s around his waist, locking their fingers together once more.

“Goodnight Will” 

* * *

It’s close to seven when Mike decides to get up for the day. He hadn’t really managed to get back to sleep after being woken up in the early hours of the morning _again_ so, naturally, he made the decision to make himself useful and put on a pot of coffee instead. He knows the Byers’ house almost better than his own at this point so he’s not really thinking as he follows the steps; opens the cabinet, finds the coffee beans, takes out a mug for himself - acting purely on autopilot until the machine starts up. He wouldn’t voice this to Will of course, but he was _tired._ But if he was feeling like this, he could only imagine what it must be doing to Will, and El by default. For the last couple of days, they’d been taking themselves away for a portion of the evenings, leaving Max and himself alone. He wasn’t sure how much Max knew, or if El had told her anything at all, so when she asked him if he knew what was going on, he’d simply shrugged and replied _“You know, creepy sibling connection business”_

The coffee finishes brewing and he pours himself a mug. He takes the milk out of the fridge, notices there’s not a lot left, so adds just a splash to his drink, before putting the milk away, leaning against the fridge door, closing his eyes and just _yawns._

“Didn’t realise coffee was on _you_ this morning.”

He opens his eyes again, looking towards the arch way to see Max walking over to him.

“You’re up early.” She opens the cabinet, taking out a mug.

“Could say the same about you, what’s your excuse?”

She rolls her eyes before pouring herself a drink, “I’m an early riser - milk?”

“In the fridge.”

“Which you’re _leaning on._ Can you pass me it?” 

He steps away from the door, switching his mug to his left hand and opens the fridge to give her the carton. She raises an eyebrow at how little is left before muttering a quick _‘thanks”,_ and then a comfortable silence settles over the room. They remain like this for a while, Mike cradling his cup whilst Max gazes over to him a few times. It’s a moment longer before she takes a sip of her own drink, grimaces and raids the Byers’ cupboards for sugar. She finds it in the second cupboard she opens, reaching up for it, and proceeding to pour it into her mug straight from the bag. Mike rolls his eyes at her, before shifting them to look out of the kitchen window at a nearby crow that had landed in the Byers’ front yard.

“So, are you just going to stand around, birdwatching in silence or are you finally going to tell me why you’re up, too?”

He sighs, “Why do you think?” He finally takes a sip of his drink and wishes he added sugar as well, “Look, I don’t know how much you know-”

“If it’s the same thing that’s getting to El, and also why she snuck out _really_ early this morning, then I know enough. Be honest, do you think it’s anything bad?”

_I hope it’s not. Puts a bit of a sour note on_ another _summer._

If Mike was being honest with himself, he wasn’t too sure. He considers all the possibilities for a moment. If the Mind Flayer was, _is_ back, why now? Why not a year ago? But, more importantly, why Will _again?_ Surely, after the events of Starcourt, as much as he hated to bring her into it, El would be the more likely target. He never trusted Will’s _powers,_ something always felt off and he’d been vocal about that to both El and Will. But he thinks back to this morning, thinks back to Lucas’ explanation of _‘just like Freddie Krueger’_ last Thursday and can’t help but question if just _maybe_ something different was at play here.

Really, Mike felt himself between a rock and a hard place. It’s not so much that he didn’t think it was _bad_ , but more this version of bad didn’t seem to quite fit the narrative they had been used to since that week in 1983. So, in response to Max, he doesn’t quite know how to answer. 

“It’s complicated” He settles on

“Complicated? As a group we’re _past_ complicated I think” Max responds, taking another sip of her coffee. “Thanks for saving me _plenty_ of milk by the way”

“I didn’t know you’d be up this early” he mutters, “But really, it _is_ complicated. _They’re_ not even sure what they’re dealing with.”

“But we _are_ dealing with _something?”_ She replies, eyes widening slightly. 

“Possibly” he murmurs under his breath, almost more to himself than her, as Lucas’ and El’s words continue to run through his head. 

“What does that even _mean?”_

“Look” he says “It’s really not my place to say anything- it’s up to Will, so please just wait for him to be ready to bring it up himself” 

She takes another sip, sighing “Fine. But you’ll let me know if it’s bad, right? If we need any help?”

He gives her a nod, just as Will himself walks into the kitchen.

“Oh, I didn’t know we were having a party at seven in the morning” he says, heading straight to Mike. He gives him a quick peck on the cheek and a _‘good morning’_ before reaching out and taking Mike’s coffee out of his hands. He takes a sip, leaning back against the counter, his shoulder resting against Mike’s own. He smiles at Max.

“Morning” he acknowledges as he takes another sip “You guys seemed like you were having a pretty intense conversation” he notes, raising an eyebrow

“Nothing important” Max diverts, with a quick look to Mike “Just how _someone_ thought that they were the only person in the house that deserved milk”

“I was here first” Mike mocks “Both in the kitchen for breakfast and also as an honorary member of this family. You snooze you lose”

“It is _way_ too early to deal with you two acting like this” Will interrupts “Please be quiet until I’ve at least finished my coffee”

“ _My_ coffee” Mike points out. 

“But you’ve just so happened to make it exactly how I like it” Will grins.

“It’s way too early for _me_ to deal with you two acting like _this_ ” Max says, gesturing between them “You’re a bit too cute for me to deal with sometimes”

“And how many times have I found you at Lucas’ acting all _domestic_ and _playing house_ ”

“As if you’re not-”

“I _still_ haven’t finished my coffee, in case you were wondering” Will interrupts, a joking scold to his tone. He raises his pointer finger up toward Mike’s head and makes a shushing noise.

“She started it” Mike mutters in protest

“Mike. _Shush_ ” Will says, repeating the earlier motion with his finger.

A comfortable silence settles over the room, interrupted slightly by Max and Will sipping at their coffee. It’s only when Will heads to the cereal cupboard and realises just how little milk there actually was, that he proposes that it might be a good idea for someone to go and buy some more.

“Mike should go, it’s his fault there’s none left” Max protests 

“I didn’t magically make the milk disappear, Max” he rolls his eyes “I was just making a drink”

Before Max can retort, Will chimes in “Maybe you can both go?” he suggests.

“Two people for one carton of milk?” Max asks, raising her eyebrow

“Well, no” Will falters “But we still need snacks for games night later, so maybe you could take a longer trip and stock up? It’ll probably need two of you to carry the bags”

Mike frowns a little at Will’s words, and he watches as Max gives him a side eye glance. Will doesn’t seem to notice however, and he continues talking.

“It’s probably best that I stay” he says “It is _my_ house, and someone will need to tell El where you’ve gone” his tone sounds casual, but Mike knows him well enough to know there is something underlying and he worries that something is that Will is eager to have everyone else out of the house. 

“Well I don’t mind staying, if you wanted to get out of the house for a bit” Mike tests 

Will takes another sip from the mug “No, it’s ok. I don’t mind really. You two go and see the exciting sights of Benton-”

“At seven in the morning?” 

“Exactly. The best time. No-one will be around.”

Mike and Max share one last look. Mike is sure at this point that Will really _is_ trying to get them out of the house and it fills him with a mixture of confusion and worry. He knows that it’s probably because Will wants to talk to El without being overhead (he also knows that the rest of the house will be out today as well) and is taking an opportunity to do so. Despite that, however, it does worry him that the talking might lead to something else, and with no one else around to supervise, he doesn’t know what could happen. Will is acting oddly calm after his nightmare and it makes him feel a little unsettled and he just wants to make sure he is ok. 

“Fine” he finally says, pushing away from the counter “Max, let me show you all the good things Benton has to offer”

* * *

  
  
Will sees them out of the door ten minutes later, handing Mike and Max the $30 that his mom and dad had left them to _“fend for themselves for the day”._ They’d all had an early start this morning - Jonathan being called in at the last minute to the early shift at work, and his mom taking his dad out for a cooked breakfast on the outskirts of town as a _‘happy first day’_ treat. Thanks to Owens being able to _pull a few strings,_ his dad, rather conveniently, had gained some glowing references and was able to get a job as the newest member of the Benton Police Department.

Will finishes the, now lukewarm, coffee and circles round the house a couple of times before finally stopping outside of El’s door.

“El? Are you awake?” He calls. When he receives no response after a few moments, he takes to repeatedly knocking until finally, she opens the door with a _“What?”_

“Why didn’t you answer?”

“I was getting ready. I heard the door. Where have Mike and Max gone?”

“We ran out of milk so I sent them to buy some” El goes to reply but before she can, Will interrupts. “Can I come in?”

She gives him a questioning look before nodding and moves out of the way of the open door. Will walks in, making his way, first of all to her record player. He kneels down, sorting through her collection before picking out _True Blue_ by _Madonna,_ placing it on the turntable and placing the stylus a little further into the vinyl record. Once _Open Your Heart_ begins playing Will stands and sits on the edge of her bed.

“Music?” She questions, making her way over and sitting next to him

“Just thought it might be nice.” He responds matter of factly. Seeing El raise an eyebrow at him out of the corner of his eye, Will sighs and continues. “I did want to talk to you about something though.”

“Without Mike and Max here? Why?”

And Will realises the jig is up so he takes a breath shifting so that he’s facing her, cross legged on the bed and she follows suit, mimicking his actions. He takes another look at the record playing as _Open your heart_ reaches the pre-chorus before turning his head back to face her.

“I want you to _look._ Like you did with your mom. Like you did with Billy. I need you to do that with me.”

* * *

“He wanted us out the house, didn't he?”

“Yep” Mike responds, popping the last consonant. 

Unsurprising to anyone, there’s not a lot to see at, now, seven thirty in the morning - the majority of the shops on main street not opening until eight. Though, Mike guesses, Will was right on one thing at least, there was _no-one around._ Despite the early hour, it’s already warm, both of them regretting wearing thin jumpers as the sun hits their skin. Mike’s grateful when they finally make it to the convenience store, if not only for the air conditioning. 

“And you didn’t think to maybe make it clearer to him that you’d figured that out?” Max questions as they walk in, picking up a basket near the entrance.

Mike rolls his eyes, “I can’t just do that Max. I’m not going to force him to tell us something he doesn’t want to - milk is Aisle Five by the way - it’s not fair.”

They make their way across the store, heading toward the aisle, but not before adding some _Reeses pieces_ and _Razzles_ to the basket.

“But don’t you think it’s _real_ convenient - Mike, we are not having _Red Vines_ when _Twizzlers_ are right there - that the only person in the house with him right now is El?” 

“I’m _very_ aware.” Mike bluntly replies.

But really, what could he do? They didn’t _know_ what Will was going to speak to El about (presuming that is what he was planning on doing) so how could they police an action that may not necessarily need policing? That wasn’t to say he wasn’t worried. Will’s blasé attitude this morning, his casual tone, doesn’t sit well in his mind, especially compared to how he was in the cabin, on the bus journey and on their first day in Illinois. So the, rather deliberate, move to get both himself and Max out of the house only serves to make him more unsettled. 

_I Wanna Dance With Somebody_ begins playing as the reach Aisle Five and they both grimace causing Mike to snort. 

_She’s not so bad really. At least on the music taste front._ He thinks as Max opens the fridge door, pulling out a carton of whole milk. She places it in the basket before taking a look at Mike then going back to the fridge and picking up another carton and pushing it in front of him.

“So that you can finally learn about the wonders of _sharing”_ Max smirks, waving it in front of his face before placing it in the basket. He raises his middle finger at her before heading out of the aisle.

_I take it back. Never again._

* * *

Understandably, El doesn’t respond for a moment, observing him with an expression that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. The song continues in the background as Will awaits an answer, feeling a little restless the longer she takes to respond.

“El?” He prompts, “Did you catch that-”

“No.”

“No, you didn’t catch that or-”

“No. I’m not doing it Will. This is a _bad_ idea. I’m not letting him back in” El’s response is direct and, if Will was being honest, not quite what he expected her to say- that’s not to be naive and say he expected her to be completely on board straight away, just that he wasn’t expecting her response to be so firm.

“We _won’t_ let him back in. We know how to fight him this time”

“But you don’t mean that. You _know_ we don’t. In the summer, at Starcourt, we got lucky. We almost _died.”_

He knows she’s right, of course she is. But there’s a selfish part of him that _doesn’t care_ . More than anything he _needs_ to know, needs to find out what’s making him feel this way. What’s been making him feel so unsettled - a feeling that despite everything he can’t shake. 

And if there’s even the slightest chance that doing this would fix everything, make everything normal again, or at least give them a way to work towards normal (even if that way was dealing with _him_ again) he needs to take it.

“You don’t know what this is like for me - what this _feels_ like, every day.” Will clenches at the comforter. “Every night, I’m just _waiting_ for it to happen again and then I wake up, and everything, _everyone_ is normal and carrying on like everything is fine. But it’s not, it’s _not fine.”_ he chews at the inside of his cheek “I don’t understand how I’m supposed to go about my life like nothing happened to me”

El reaches out, placing her hand over one of his own, still grasping at the bed sheet. “You don’t _have_ to. All of us are here for you. We _all_ understand-”

“But you don’t. None of you know what this is like”

“But I _do.”_ El’s voice is firm again. She pulls his hand away from the comforter, and he lets her. She holds his hand with both of hers, giving it a comforting squeeze. Will furrows his brows and gulps as she softly repeats “But I do.”

* * *

  
  
“I’m just saying, I think it’s a little weird” Max comments as they’re walking back down Main Street toward the Byers’. They have two grocery bags each which Mike will explain to the rest of the house was down to himself and Max getting carried away in the store, but in reality, he was trying to buy Will a little extra time. As nervous as this whole thing made him, he knew that Will wanting this time with El was clearly important, and he wanted to make sure he had enough time as possible. 

“Yeah I know, you’ve made that _very_ clear, but it’s their thing to sort out”

“You mean Will’s thing?”

 _“What_ are you talking about _now?_ ”

“It’s just Will’s thing, right? It’s happening to him, not to El” she shrugs

“How did you-” he shakes his head “Never mind. Look, they’ll tell you, _Will’ll_ tell you, just for now? Leave it. Give them time”

“Fine” she sighs, but drops the subject for the time being. They continue their walk through Main Street, making occasional - not related to the nightmare situation - conversation, and regretting their outfit choices more and more as the sun glares down upon them.

“You’re going to break that bag, you know” Max says after a while, gesturing to where Mike is swinging one of his grocery bags back and forth as they walk. He hadn’t even realised he’d been doing it, but he refuses to let Max know that.

“They’re _fine_ ” he bites, making one more dramatic swing with his arm.

“Whatever” she huffs “If you want to be the one at fault for wasting even more milk, be my guest”  
  
  


* * *

El walks over to the record player, taking the stylus off of the disc. She removes the record, placing it back into the sleeve before picking up her _Duran Duran_ album and placing it on the player. _Is There Something I Should Know?_ begins and she makes her way back to him, still sitting on the bed. 

“Ok.” She says with a sigh. She doesn’t look at Will, choosing to remain sitting forward, towards the source of the music. He watches her carefully, her hands tapping against her thighs as she bites at her bottom lip. 

“Ok.” She repeats again, finally turning her head towards him. “But if we do this, we are playing by _my_ rules. We’re not doing this alone.”

“I don’t want Max to be involved - she doesn’t know what’s going on”

“But maybe I _do_ want her involved. Why can Mike be there but not Max? Why can you have someone to be there for you but I’m not allowed?”

Will furrows his brows, “You really don’t think Mike will be there for you?”

“Not quite the same way he will be for you” She responds with a frown. “Do you really think I’m the reason he’s this worried?”

_Yeah. Sometimes I do._

He’s seen him freak out about her too many times to believe otherwise. From _that_ summer, right back to something as mundane as him worrying about whether or not she would _actually_ make it to the Snow Ball, El had, in his view - and he was sure he could speak for the rest of The Party when he said this - had always been at the forefront of Mike’s mind, especially in regards to anything _supernatural._ He knew Mike loved him - and he loved him too - and of course, he believed him, but at times, it’s still hard to comprehend how much really had changed in less than a year, both for himself _and_ El. Will thinks on how much truly has changed for him. From starting his Sophomore year, to going on his first date, to finally expressing who he is - and then to breaking up with his first boyfriend because _somehow_ the guy that he’d liked since he was thirteen likes him back - to then said guy, becoming his boyfriend and the rest is history. 

The last eight months, he’d been exploring an element of his life that he’d been repressing for so long and it was overwhelming to say the least. With this, and everything that had happened in Hawkins for years, he couldn’t be blamed if his brain always tried to jump to the worst possible conclusion. 

So when he doesn’t answer El, it causes her to prompt once again.

“So can I have Max? I want her there with me.”

“Fine. As soon as they get back, we tell her.”

* * *

“I really don’t think you should be doing this” Mike says, watching as Will rummages through his room, looking for something to be used as a makeshift bandana. 

Mike and Max had returned back from their early morning outing to find a very serious looking Will and El on the Byers’ living room couch. All it had taken was one _“is everything ok?”_ from Max for them to finally explain what had been going on. Mike already knew, obviously, but the way they told it this time, felt different from before. Will seemed more scared than he’d been this entire time, and El’s fear matched his, causing Mike’s nervousness about the whole situation to make a reappearance and it had not left since they’d returned home- especially after Will had filled them in on the plan they had concocted. 

“I _have_ to” Will replies, voice firm. He doesn’t look up from his searching 

“Will, I’m sure there are other ways to figure out what’s wrong” Mike attempts to bargain “This seems _extreme_ ”  
Will doesn’t say anything, not faltering as he walks to his dresser and pulls open the top drawer.

“You _know_ what happened the last time we did this. You saw what it did to El-”

And then he turns. 

“Well what do you expect me to do _Mike?_ Just carry on as if nothing is happening to me as long as El is ok?” Will snaps, taking Mike aback.

“You _know_ that’s not what I meant” he attempts to placate “I just mean The Mind Flayer knew where we were, do you really want to risk letting him in again?”

“What I _want_ is to know what’s going on with me. I don’t understand why you can’t support me with this”

“I _do_ support you. I just need to make sure that you’re safe-”

“That _El’s_ safe you mean.” Will mutters bitterly

“ _What_ are you talking about?”

“I think of something that could finally help me, to make all of this go away. But the second El’s involved we can’t do it”

“It’s not because El’s involved that we can’t do it. We can’t do it because it’s a _bad idea”_

Will, abandoning his search with a sigh, moves over to his bed. He throws himself down, hands over his face, knees bent, feet planted on the comforter. Mike watches him for a short while, deciding on his next move carefully. It’s when Will rubs at his eyes that he moves to lay next to him. He doesn’t speak for a moment, thinking over Will’s words and the way he’d been acting. If he thinks about it, this hadn’t been the first time this idea of being the _least important_ had been raised by him - he’d said as much at the cabin a few days prior. And he certainly doesn’t forget how there was a subtle change in Will’s expression at the cabin when he’d said they couldn’t replace him. He knows that Will is still thinking over, and dealing with, the fact that El talks to Nick so, he supposes, that anything along those lines of conversation was a sore spot for him right now.

So, he sighs, and shuffles a little closer to him. Mike reaches his arm above Will’s head, across the pillows and feels him relax slightly. Mike takes this opportunity to shift his arm a little more, so it slides under his head, and curves around Will’s shoulder, Mike using this new position to guide him into his chest. Will rests his head against him, bringing his own arm up to sit on Mike’s stomach. 

“I’m sorry” Will mumbles 

“You don’t need to apologise” Mike comforts “You know _you’re_ my _main priority_ , right?” 

“Really Mike, it’s ok if she is. You two have been through so much together - so I get it, I do.”

And that’s true. He thinks about where they started and how he had always wanted to protect her - still _does_ want to protect her - and that was something that, relationship or not, won’t go away any time soon. But he also has to acknowledge that he’d always cared for Will, too. When he looks back on it, their friendship had always been a little closer than that with Lucas and Dustin, so now, with the added romantic side to their relationship, he needs Will to know just how important he is to him. 

“There’s nothing _to get_ because she’s _not_ . I’ll always care about her, and she means a lot to me so I’m not going to lie to you and say I’m not worried about what could happen to her.” He feels Will tense slightly. “But _you_ are _always_ my main priority and I need you to be safe. I can’t have anything happen to you again - I _can’t_ lose you, Will”

Will nestles further into Mike’s chest for a moment, letting out a quiet _“thank you”_ which is muffled by Mike’s t-shirt. Way too soon, however, Will pulls away, sitting up on the bed.

“We’ll be safe, I _promise_ we’ll be safe. There will be two of us in there this time, El won’t be on her own. The _second_ something seems off, we’ll break the connection. She won’t get hurt, _I_ won’t get hurt.” Will is so sure, voice unwavering, and he doesn’t break eye contact. Mike reluctantly sighs, pushing himself up to sit next to Will. “The _second_ something is up, get out of there” He echoes Will’s words back to him, who nods once in response.

“Ok. Let’s go deal with this, once and for all” 

* * *

El notices the slight strange tension between Will and Mike the second they eventually walk back into her room. The atmosphere all day had been heightened anyway, and Mike’s attitude once he and Max had returned home had only sought to increase it, so when he had rushed off after Will when he’d gone in search of a blindfold, she knew they would be _talking_ about it. She and Max hadn’t been able to perfectly make out their conversation, but the slight occasional raise in Will’s tone through the wall had told her everything they needed to know. 

Whilst there is still a little awkwardness between them as they enter the room, she notices Will give Mike’s hand a squeeze and she knows that they’re ok. 

Will lets go of Mike’s hand and sits down on the floor in front of her, handing over the makeshift blindfold - today’s being his camera strap with a pyjama shirt wrapped around it for comfort. El gives her brother a _thank you_ before beginning to wrap it round her eyes, before she’s interrupted by a voice saying

“Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?”

 _“Mike”_ Will says, giving him a stern look. Mike holds his hands up in defense, but doesn’t speak again, instead walking over to El’s bed and sitting next to Max - arms folded across his chest.

“So tell me again how this is supposed to help?” Max asks “What good is racking Will’s brain going to do about the Mind Flayer?”

El turns to face her “I think if I can see into it - the way I did with Billy - I might be able to figure out if he’s there-”

“-Which he _is”_ Will interrupts. She ignores him, and begins to set the blindfold again

“ _-and_ what he might want” she finishes, shrugging “It might not work, and I haven’t done this in a while, but I see why Will wants to try” 

“I’ve already said this to Will” Mike speaks again, as she tightens the blindfold at the back of her head “But _the second_ it goes wrong, you get out of there. I mean it, El. I can’t risk either of you getting hurt” 

“Mike” Will says again, but the edge in his tone is gone this time “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think it was the right thing to do. I know - better than most people - how dangerous _he_ can be, and if I thought it was putting any of you in danger, I wouldn’t be here. But, I know that could become a possibility if I keep letting him into my nightmares, and I don’t want to be out of control of this again. Back when he did that before, after we found Dad in the tunnels, I felt so helpless. I heard him using my voice to say your name and I was in there, trapped, knowing that he knew who you were, that he was planning on hurting you, and I can’t let him do that again” he takes a breath “You’re _my_ main priority, too”

Before Mike can say anything - although El is pretty sure his face says it all if she is accurately picturing the soppy look that would be on it right now - Max lets out a fake gag “That was disgustingly cute. So, are we going to do this or not?” 

“Will? Are you ready?” she asks, her own voice sounding a little shaky. She doesn’t think she’s ever ready to go into the void, no matter how many times she does it - especially when she considers what happened the last time they tried this particular method of _exploration._ But ultimately she knows, despite her initial reluctance to do this, if anything was going to give Will the answer he needs, it was going to be this. She doesn’t get an answer straight away, hearing his breathing become slightly heavier instead - so she takes to another method and attempts to _tap in_ and reach him in a way they’d done so many times before. This clearly gets his attention as she hears him clear his throat and give a small _“I’m ready”_

“Ok.” Is all she says, before she lets herself _sink._

-

_El opens her eyes and looks around her, seeing the usual darkness that she’s accustomed to whenever she’s in the void. She acknowledges the figure in front of her, Will, sitting cross legged, and makes a move towards him, kneeling down at his height when she gets there. She can vaguely make out the echoes of Mike and Max bickering and she wishes they’d stop - they never seem to realise how bad a distraction can be when she’s in here - before she reaches out to take Will’s hand._

_And then there’s a shift._

_Will looks up at her, tightens the grip on her hand and suddenly, her mind is_ full _._

-

_“What the hell are you doing here, Lonnie?”_

_She’s stood in the living room of the Byers’ house in Hawkins, watching a very small version of Will, huge box of crayons and lots of scattered paper around him, led on his front coloring in on the carpet. His head looks up when he hears the commotion._

_“Daddy!” he drops the crayons, and jumps up from his position. El knows she doesn’t need to move out of the way, but does out of habit, letting him pass and run into the kitchen. She follows him for a moment, before hearing an unfamiliar voice speak from the entrance way._

_“What, I can’t visit my second-born on his birthday?” His voice sounds slurred, El notes, but before she can get a proper look at him, Will runs back past her, paper in hand._

_“His birthday was_ yesterday- _”_

_But before she can continue, there’s Will, at her side, beaming up at his dad, “I thought you’d forgotten.” He outstretched his arms, pushing the paper towards the man in front of him. “Mommy got me some new crayons, want to see what I did-”_

_“Will, honey, why don’t you go and see your brother?” She watches as their mom, pushes the paper down before leaning down to him, ruffling his hair, “We won’t be long.”_

_“No. Let him show me. He wants to, right Will?”_

_El moves a little closer to them once again, and has an overwhelming feeling to keep him safe. She looks between the three of them, to their mom watching Will, to Will’s dad, watching their mom and finally, to Will who is looking between the two with a blend of excitement and childlike innocence. She takes a look down at the drawing, taking note of the colors and details, carefully placed behind a boat. Subconsciously, she reaches out for it until Will’s voice asking “Can I? Please?” halts her movement._

_But their mom doesn’t have a chance to answer as the man reaches down and takes the picture out of Will’s hands. Will shifts on the balls of his feet, before taking a hold of their mom’s cardigan and pulling at the sleeve._

_“What the hell is this? Some kind of - I don’t even know_ what _this is”_

_Will falters slightly_

_“Lonnie, don’t you dare-” their mom starts, quickly snatching the picture back, holding it behind her back out of his reach_

_“It’s- It's a rainbow ship. I drew it with my crayons”_

_“And I love it so much, honey” their mom says, handing it to him “Why don’t you go put it back where it was before, so we can keep it safe”_

_“But-”_

_“Will, come on” El hears from behind her, turning to see Jonathan standing in the hallway. Stepping into the room, he reaches out a hand “Grab your crayons and come color with me”_

_Will looks as though he’s going to protest one more time, but a quick look at the look his dad is giving their mom makes him flinch, and he shuffles backwards. He takes his brother’s hand and goes with him into the living room, sitting back on the floor, Jonathan now beside him_

_“You know mom hasn’t stopped talking about how great your drawing is right?” He says, handing Will a few crayons, “I heard her talking to Mike and Lucas’ moms about it yesterday when they came to pick them up”_

_“She did?” Will doesn’t look at him, instead carefully places the purple and yellow crayons back in their box before taking the ones Jonathan had picked up out of his hands._

_“She did. It’s really cool, Will. I-”_

_“So what, Joyce? I’ve got one son who can’t even shoot a gun and now you’re letting this draw all these flowery pictures all the time? What kind of household are you running here? What kind of mother are you?”_

The best _El thinks, as she scowls at the man in the doorway, and makes her way to her brothers, kneeling down to Will and Jonathan’s level. Jonathan places an arm around Will’s shoulders and whispers something that she can’t quite pick up on but she presumes it was at least a little comforting when Will gives a small smile, wiping at his eyes - though tries to hide what he’s doing - with the sleeves of his sweater. El reaches forward and takes the blue crayon in her hands, bringing it into herself._

_“Can I have that back please?” She looks up, to see Will looking at her, head tilted slightly, holding out his hand. It jolts her for a moment, something like this hadn’t happened before, not really, but she nods, places it carefully in his hands but, as their hands touch, she finds herself somewhere else._

_-_

_“Hi.”_

_Will, Mike and Lucas look up from where they’re sitting on the floor by the jungle gym_

_“Hi?” It’s Mike that answers, giving, who El now recognises as, a much younger Dustin - still capped - a peculiar look._

_“I’m Dustin. Dustin Henderson. I’m new here.” He outstretches his hand towards the group, looking between the three of them. “I heard you talking about the newest Uncanny X-Men comic. What did you think?”_

_“It was good, right guys?” Will answers, a smile on his face. Mike and Lucas glance at one another before nodding. “Want to talk about it?” El notices that he takes a quick look over to Mike and Lucas, almost as a confirmation that it’s ok._

_“What I do want is for someone to shake my hand” Dustin grins and El can’t help but smile as Lucas rolls his eyes. He stands up, outstretching his hand in return before greeting him with a “Lucas. Lucas Sinclair”_

_-_

_El is back in the Byers’ house, falling back onto the bed in what had become her room for those last three months in Hawkins. She takes a moment to ground herself though she finds she’s interrupted by the barking of a dog as it runs past the bedroom door._

They had a dog? _She thinks, following it into the living area of the Byers’ old house. The dog barks at the front door and continues even as Will enters, in a panic - though still gives him a gentle scratch. Will nearly runs into her as he sprints down the hallway shouting for their mom and Jonathan. Though what catches her attention more is the feeling of what’s nearby. It’s something she recognises herself, when she thinks back to when Papa made her reach out for it in the lab._

_“Mom? Jonathan?” Will shouts again, running back into the main room and over to the window. She doesn’t follow him, there wouldn't be enough space underneath the blinds even if she wanted to, but not long after he gets there, he pulls away from the window and rushes over towards the phone, frantically turning the dial. This time, she stands next to him, the dog still barking, trying to hear for a voice on the other end of the call._

_And then they both freeze._

_Almost in sync, they turn their attention to the front door, watching as a figure appears in front of it and begins to slide the lock. El finds she tries to stop it from happening but nothing works and on the door being unlocked itself, Will drops the phone and pushes her aside before running out of the backdoor._

-

_El finds she’s still standing in the same spot when the memory changes again. She feels slightly off balance, facing the backdoor that Will had just run out of, to find everything slightly warmer now, a little brighter, and turns herself, following the sound of muffled voices to find Will and Mike, dressed as ghostbusters, sitting on the couch. They’re talking about Will, about her and then they’re both smiling and she knows Will well enough now to notice it’s a pure, genuine smile._

_“Hey Will, if we’re both going crazy, we’ll go crazy together, right?”_ _  
__“Yeah, crazy together”_ _  
  
_

_-_

_Everything seems to blur together after that, moment after moment, memory after memory appearing around her, as if once the gates had been opened, they couldn’t close again. This one is slightly different to the others, it’s almost flickering - like it’s stuck or skipping._

_It makes her feel uncomfortable and she finds she’s unable to focus._

_She remembers what Mike said “The second it goes wrong, get out of there” and for a moment, she considers it. But then Will is running towards her on the school field, stopping just in front of her and she realises what’s going on._

_The vision of the Mind Flayer looming over him, coming towards him,_ consuming _him._

_Screams of “Let me go! Let me go!” mixed in amongst “I was so proud” “Do you remember the day Dad left?” and “It was the best thing I’ve ever done”_

_Will screaming in the cabin, tied down, struggling as their mom turns up the heating and Nancy pushes a fire poker into his side_

_She covers her ears trying to stop the ringing, and closes her eyes, finding the whole situation overwhelming. She wills it to_ stop, _trying to block out all of these feelings and emotions that are washing over her so rapidly it feels like she’s drowning._

_-_

_She’s grateful for the next shift in location._

_She’s at the Snowball now, and the memory makes her smile. She weaves through the couples dancing and spots herself and Mike dancing to ‘Every Breath You Take’ and wonders why this had ended up as such an important memory for Will. She looks for him, finally finding him in the crowd, dancing with one of the girls from Hawkins Middle, but he’s not looking at her, he’s looking over at Mike instead._

_-_

**  
**_Will up late one night, the calendar on his wall showing May 1985, touching the back of his neck, a distraught look on his face. He rubs angrily at the spot, as if he’s trying to erase the problem, but he only grows more and more agitated and he grounds out a "I thought this was over", and by the look on his face, El knows exactly what he means,_

_He can feel him._

_Another shift, more moments from that year swirling around her, Will looking at her and Mike as they left The Party behind with Cerebro, the boys shopping for her and the constant look of disappointment on his face, him and Mike fighting “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls” echoing loudly around her, Will in the rain, bat in hand, standing outside Castle Byers, repeating “stupid” over and over._

_The Party happily reuniting at the mall, despite the circumstances they were in. The group hug, Will smiling, him reuniting with his mom after the fight they’d all suffered through._

_El moving in and getting Will’s room, Will having to share with Jonathan, the small argument he’d had with his mom about it when no one else was around._

_Will spending more time alone, avoiding phone calls and his friends, avoiding Mike. Seeing him again for the first time alone since their fight._

_Spending time making a mixtape, notes scribbled on paper around him, trying to make it perfect._

_Leaving Hawkins. Final hugs, tears._

_So many cardboard boxes._

_-_

_They’re out of Hawkins, now, though El isn't entirely sure_ when _this is. She spots Will next to a payphone, inserting a few quarters._

_“Hi Lucas”_

_“Will?” It’s different this time, Lucas’ voice ringing all around her from the phone “What number are you calling on? Where are you?”_

_“I just went for a walk, had to get out of the house for a bit”_

_“Mike and El being too, Mike and El?”_

Oh. It was then _._

_She notices Will takes a breath, pinching at the skin of his arm “Yeah, something like that”_

_“Are you ok man?”_

_‘What? Yeah, I’m fine just- just a bit fed up with How Deep Is Your Love?” he sighs, slumping against the wall of the phone box._

_“Hey, look, do you want me to come for the day? We can hang out, catch a movie-”_

_“No, no it’s fine. I’m sure you’ve got stuff to do”_

_“Well, not really. A date with Max but she’ll understand. Not a lot happens in Hawkins anymore not since-”_

_“Since we left? Guess me and El are just a magnet for trouble”_

_“Hey no, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s a good thing right? That nothing is happening. We can just be us again. We can just be sixteen”_

_“_ Almost _sixteen”_

_Lucas snorts “Almost sixteen then. This is good though. It’s been a year and nothing’s happened. To me, It feels like it’s finally behind us”_

_“Yeah.” El can hear the reluctance in Will's voice, “Finally”_

_-_

_Now she finds herself in the middle of the Benton High School Art Department._

_“So.” It’s Nick, El realises, smiling at him even though he can’t see her. He puts his paintbrush down and turns round on his chair to face Will._

_“So.” Will smiles to himself, continuing to paint._

_“I have a proposition”_

_“That sounds ominous” Will laughs, finally putting down his own brush._

_“I’ve been going to your house, a lot. You’ve been coming to mine a lot, too. A lot of those times we’ve been holding hands and I wondered if maybe, you might want to hold hands some more? Maybe on a date, though. Instead of at our houses”_

_“You want to go on a date? With me?”_

_“Yeah, you see the thing is, I kind of like you, Will Byers. You’re kind of something”_

_Will beams at him._

**-**

_It then moves to last November and December; Will coming out, their friends being supportive - so supportive. There’s more dates with Nick, and Will smiling- really smiling. But there’s something deeper and when she sees the three, Will, Nick and Mike, sitting in the diner, sharing chocolate cake, El doesn’t quite know how to react when Mike’s face isn’t exactly clear._

Was he ignoring it? Or blocking it out? _El isn’t quite sure but before she can get any closer to the table, the scene changes around her again and it’s a moment she remembers very well, as she watches herself and Mike in her room, Will shouting, cursing out Mike, kicking him out of his room. El follows Will back to his own, making it in just in time before he slams the door - watching as he moves over to shelves, taking off the polaroid that had pride of place in the centre and throwing it in his wastepaper bin._

_He’s about to lay down on his bed but then he sees it. On the floor is a sweater the household had become accustomed to those last few days of Christmas - Mike’s sweater._

_And as he leans down to pick it up, everything shifts again- all feeling just that little brighter. Happier moments with Mike; talking on the swing in their backyard, getting together, holding hands, long talks on the phone, their first date, first kiss, so many little moments shared, both of them so happy._

_“I do, though. Love you, I mean”_

_“I know”_

\- 

_And then it stops. And she’s back in the black void._

_Will is still there, the slightly echoed voices of Mike and Max are back but there’s nothing else. She’s a bit taken aback but how sudden it ends and fears that maybe Will’s suspicions had been right all along - after all, the last time it ended like this Billy, or rather the Mind Flayer, took the opportunity to speak to her directly. She lets go of Will’s hand and braces herself for the inevitable._

_But there’s nothing. No-one comes. And Will remains seated, on the floor, and the voices still float around her. She takes a final look around, still nothing, and pulls her attention back to Will once again._

_And she understands, now, exactly what this means._

_“El? El?” she hears, the sound becoming ever more clear in her mind._

_“Is she ok?” Max’s voice rings out and El, satisfied, begins to take herself out of the void._

_“Does she look ok?” It’s Mike this time, “She’s not reacting is she, Max?-”_

-

“I’m fine” she finally manages, voice a little croaky. She pulls the blindfold off before looking around the room at the startled faces of Mike, Will and Max. She touches under her nose with her fingers before Max hands her a tissue.

“What is it? What did you see? What was there?” Will asks, voice a little shaky. She can hear the light on Will’s nightstand buzzing, the air feeling like static.

“ _Will,_ I-”

“Did you find _him?_ What does he want?”

“It didn’t- It didn't feel like _anything_ was there” she admits “You just felt like _you_ ”

“That’s good!” Mike reassures “Means everything is ok, right?”

“Are you absolutely sure?” Will demands, as if Mike hadn’t spoken

“I promise. I didn’t see _anything”_ she reaches for his hand in real life now

“I dont- it doesn’t- there _has_ to be” he’s speaking faster and more sporadic than usual and the lights in her room start to occasionally glitch on and off.

“Will, hey,” Mike tries to comfort “This is good, it means The Mind Flayer isn’t there, it means he’s not trying to hurt you”

He continues to ignore her outstretched hand, and El watches as both of his own start to shake. 

“You _must_ have missed something. _Try again.”_

“Will, _no-”_

“Well what am I supposed to do then?! Just carry on like this for the rest of my life? Something is _wrong_ -”

“Will, you need to-” El tries to take hold of his hand but he pushes it away.

“What’s _happening to me?!”_ Will cries out, tugging at his hair with his hands. All of the lights flicker frantically for a moment before they stop, pause, and then _shatter_. El knows it isn’t just the lights in her room, either, as the noise echoes throughout the house. She’s about to say something, _anything,_ to try to calm her brother down, but before she can even open her mouth, the bedroom door bursts open, revealing their mom and dad standing at the threshold. 

  
“What the _hell_ is going on here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! You can follow us both on tumblr [@mayfixlds](https://mayfixlds.tumblr.com/) [@okwillthewise](https://okwillthewise.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow us both on tumblr [@mayfixlds](https://mayfixlds.tumblr.com/) [@okwillthewise](https://okwillthewise.tumblr.com/)


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